Threats against women from the judiciary and various ministries

Following the warning from Ebrahim Raisi and the judiciary on 3 April 2023, coinciding with the end of the Iranian New Year holidays, the regime's ministries of Science, Education and Health, in a flurry of communiqués, warned female students not to respect the wearing of the hijab. The Ministry of Education announced: "We will not provide services to female students who do not respect the rules of the hijab" (Aftab website - 3 April).
 
The Ministry of Science announced: "Universities and higher education institutions under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology will be exempted from providing educational, social, etc. services to the few female students who do not abide by the rules and regulations of the universities in this regard". (ISNA - 3 April).
 
Abbas Shiraojan, vice president of the University of Medical Sciences, stated, "The universities of medical sciences will be exempted from providing services to the few students who do not wear the Islamic hijab." (Jamaran website - 3 April).

The head of Azad University, Iran's largest university complex, announced, "The institutions concerned are obliged to prevent female students from attending university in inappropriate clothing." (Entekhab website - 3 April).
 
Ebrahim Raisi stated on 1 April: "Legal obligation obliges everyone to abide by the law, even if for some reason one does not believe in the hijab, but adherence to the law makes a society governed by the rule of law." (News Network - 1 April)
 
Mullah Eje'i, head of the judiciary, had also warned that "removing the hijab is an act of hostility towards the system and its values, and people who commit this irregularity will be punished" and that "officials are obliged to deal with obvious offences and any kind of irregularity in public that is against the law and the sharia. They must refer cases to the competent judicial authorities to deal with them. The judicial authorities must also be diligent in dealing with these cases (...) In case of identification and arrest of these perpetrators [of crimes], the judiciary will deal with this matter in a special manner and out of time, and all those who are involved in any way and are complicit in these matters will be prosecuted firmly and without any tolerance." (Fars Agency - April 1)

Earlier, the mullahs' Interior Ministry had announced in a statement that "the hijab will always be one of the principles in the practice of the Islamic Republic of Iran". The statement added: "While insisting on the necessity of observing hijab in all public places and on all roads, and declaring support for all those who advocate virtue and prohibit vice throughout the country, the respectable judiciary, judicial officers and other concerned institutions will take action against the few who violate the rules." (Fars Agency - 31 March)
 
Zohreh Lajevardi, a member of the regime's parliament and daughter of Lajevardi, the "butcher of Evin prison," warned that "the parliament's cultural committee will crack down on officials who fail to do their duty regarding the hijab." (Fars Agency - 1 April)

During Friday prayers this week, Khamenei's representatives, in a theatrical coordination, told government authorities, "If you are not able to fight against the lack of hijab, we will take action." (Khabaronline website - 1 April) They called on members of the Bassij militia and other mercenaries to take action against women.
 
This week, many shops, resorts, restaurants, cafes and even pharmacies and doctors' offices were sealed and closed in various cities of the country, such as Qom, Shiraz, Khaf, Nour, Babolsar, Khorramabad, Miyaneh, Varzaneh, Dezfoul, etc.
 
In Kashan alone, 40 commercial and tourist premises have been sealed, and women are prevented from entering many centres under the pretext of hijab regulations. A video of a Basij militiaman attacking a mother and daughter in a dairy in Torqaba (Khorasan province) provoked an outcry and condemnation.
 
The Iranian Resistance, while condemning the misogynist policies of the clerical regime, warns against the intensification of repressive measures against women and calls on all international women's rights and human rights organisations to take concrete and effective measures against the oppression and discrimination of women in Iran.