Interior Minister urges internet users not to be "influenced" by "Hijab, No Hijab" campaign

Following the support of many social media users for the hashtag "Hijab, No Hijab" and the publication of images of women expressing their opposition to compulsory hijab on the streets of various Iranian cities, the Minister of the Interior of the Islamic Republic called on social media users not to be "influenced" by this campaign.

Despite the large number of videos of this campaign being posted from inside Iran, Ahmad Vahidi claimed on Wednesday, July 12, on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting and in a conversation with reporters that these cases "are not related to Iran and are supported from abroad."

He added: "It is unacceptable for some people sitting abroad who are usually connected to foreign intelligence services - and sometimes this has been revealed - to want to determine the fate of the country, especially in an issue of this importance. We ask all those who deal with cyberspace not to be influenced by these malicious insinuations."

He did not provide any evidence or proof regarding the claim that Iranian opponents of compulsory hijab are "connected to foreign intelligence services."

The Minister of the Interior of the Islamic Republic further claimed that even those who, according to him, do not wear the hijab "precisely" in Iran believe in the system and, due to negligence, do not observe the type of hijab that should be worn.

The Interior Minister also said that he believed that "many" hijab violations could be resolved with "a compassionate reminder."

Mr. Vahidi spoke of "compassionate reminders" at a time when the presence of Islamic Guidance Patrol forces in the streets of various cities has intensified in recent weeks, and in some cases, videos of violent encounters with women and girls and their arrests have been released.

The Interior Minister had warned a day earlier, in a different tone, referring to the issue of chastity and hijab, that the "trusted agencies" have the duty to "deal with norm-breakers, and no one will be allowed to deliberately accompany the enemy in order to destroy and pollute the space."

On Tuesday, the head of the army's political ideology organization likened the "hijab" to the "first embankment" in the Islamic Republic and warned that if this embankment is broken, the other embankments will also be lost.

Abbas Mohammad Hassani made these statements on the occasion of the government's "Chastity and Hijab" day in Iran, Tuesday, July 12. This comes as the hashtag "Hijab, No Hijab" has become widespread on Persian-language social networks in recent days.

On this same day, a number of women in Tehran and other cities across Iran are posting videos of themselves removing their hijab on social media. In these videos, they state the date of their video as Tuesday, July 11.

The head of the army's political ideology organization has said: "We must convince the new generation that the hijab is the most important factor in confronting the enemy's soft war."

Abbas Mohammad Hassani has clarified: "Therefore, the first embankment of the soft war is the veil and chastity, and on every front where the first embankment is lost, the subsequent embankments are also lost one after the other."

The senior spokesman for the armed forces also called so-called "bad-hijab" individuals, especially artists and filmmakers who do not follow the Islamic Republic's mandatory hijab, "armies of Satan" on Tuesday.

On July 12, official ceremonies were held in Tehran and some cities to mark the government's "Chastity and Hijab" Day.

This is while dozens of civil society activists yesterday issued a statement titled "No means no, this time no to compulsory hijab," declaring that the designation of July 12 by the Islamic Republic government as "Hijab and Chastity Day" is "an excuse for further marking the repression of the people, especially Iranian women."

In their statement, these civil activists, referring to the restrictions that the "mandatory hijab law" has placed on women's activities in society, said that "the damage of this imposed law is not limited to the loss of the right to choose what to wear. Due to the imposed wearing of cloaks, chadors, veils, and headscarves, women are also placed in an unequal position compared to men in job opportunities."

The naming of July 12 as "Hijab and Chastity Day" was done to refer to the anniversary of what the Islamic Republic government calls the "uprising" of the people of Mashhad against the ban on the hijab in 1935.

Source: Radio Farda