Closure of ‘Mehr and Mah’ Complex in Qom Following Clashes Between People and Shopkeepers with Morality Police

A news agency close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps reported the closure of the ‘Mehr and Mah’ complex in Qom following clashes between shopkeepers and residents with morality police.

Videos circulated on social media indicate clashes between shopkeepers of the Mehr and Mah complex and residents with morality police over warnings about mandatory hijab enforcement. This commercial and tourism complex is located on the Qom-Tehran highway at the 6-kilometer mark, where approximately 700 people work in two shifts.

After the implementation of the ‘Hijab Law’ was postponed, government supporters held a sit-in in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for over forty days in response to this delay. According to statements from several parliamentary representatives, participants in this sit-in had received payments. Additionally, other reports emerged about the presence of morality police in commercial and recreational centers.

Now, the Mehr and Mah commercial complex has closed due to clashes between residents and shopkeepers working in the complex with morality police over mandatory hijab enforcement warnings. According to the claim of the ‘Mehr’ news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Propaganda Organization, the management of this complex decided to close for two days to revise procedures. However, no official statement has been made by the complex’s management regarding its closure or sealing.

Yesterday, Sunday, April 6th, the prosecutor of Kashmar also announced the sealing of a reception hall in that city due to holding mixed-gender ceremonies. ‘Ismail Baluch Zadeh,’ the general prosecutor and revolutionary prosecutor of Kashmar, cited the reason for this sealing as ‘holding mixed-gender ceremonies and engaging in behaviors contrary to public decency,’ and announced the issuance of summons and arrest orders for the organizers and participants in this event.

Despite suppressions, pressures, and severe penalties by the government against non-compliance with the hijab law and its intensification, civil disobedience by Iranian women against mandatory hijab and men’s support for them has increased.