Ali Motahari's repeated positions spark controversy: He says hijab should be mandatory; the right to cover is an "animal" right

Ali Motahari is an official of the Islamic Republic who has held a strong position on compulsory hijab in recent years, and has recently become controversial by re-examining his positions on the Clubhouse app.

These days, Clubhouse has become very popular as one of the few unfiltered social and communication networks in Iran, and officials of the Islamic Republic are also present on it; including Ali Motahari, a former member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who has once again emphasized that the Islamic hijab should be made mandatory and that the right to choose what women wear is an "animal" right.

Ali Motahari's positions, which are in line with the Islamic Republic's policies on clothing, are not new, but they were met with many reactions on Twitter.

Among them, Hossein Ronaghi wrote: "After 24 years of reforms and reforms and I repeat, Khatami, we have reached the point where they consider women's "right to choose their clothing" to be nothing more than animal talents!"

Mahshid Hosseini also mentioned this part of Ali Motahari's speech, "When a young man in our society is aroused by the sight of a woman's hand, this is our strength! In Europe, European women are now turning to African men!" and believed: "This is our presidential candidate. Participating in the elections is no longer legitimizing the crimes of the G.A., it is an insult to our individual intelligence."

Elham Nadav also tweeted: "The Crystal Simorgh for the most provocative sentence of the year is awarded to Ali Motahari for the sentence 'God wants us to be provoked, we must be provoked.'"

And of course, some were fundamentally critical of why one should participate in such a discussion. Like Reza Haghighatnejad, who was critical of journalists and wrote: "Ali Motahari called women's right to choose their clothing 'animal talent' in the Club House. This is officially an insult. The least journalists can do is leave the room. There should be a boundary."

Amir Hossein Khaleghi also tweeted: "This fetish of conversation for the sake of conversation! We must put it aside; for example, what are you really going to hear from the great Ali Motahari? What exactly are you going to find in those scattered thoughts? What kind of victory do you expect from the pulpit of people like him?"

Source: Voice of America