For a lot of commuters within the Iranian capital, navigating the subway system means passing by means of ”tunnels of horror.”
Entrances and corridors in Tehran’s subway stations are lined with so-called hijab guards, ladies carrying black chadors and inexperienced sashes. And whereas the position of those squads is evident — to identify and confront ladies not carrying the necessary head scarf — figuring out duty for his or her deployment has been shrouded in thriller.
However the publication of a categorised Inside Ministry doc displaying the state’s clear ties to the hijab guards, in addition to authorized motion in opposition to the reformist newspaper that printed the doc, has revealed an obvious authorities cover-up that has rekindled public anger over the Islamic republic’s heavy-handed strategy to implementing the hijab legislation.
It has additionally left officers uncovered to harsh criticism and calls for his or her resignation following the federal government’s insistence that the guards had been voluntary and had no connection to the state.
As not too long ago as November 22, Inside Minister Ahmad Vahidi stated at a cupboard assembly that the hijab guards weren’t a part of his ministry or the morality police, an official legislation enforcement physique notorious for its harsh therapy of hijab violators.
Vahidi pushed again on solutions that the hijab guards ought to require particular permits and insisted the squads of girls had been finishing up their duties out of spiritual religion and independently of the authorities.
Vahidi described them as ”well-liked teams” who had been finishing up their Islamic obligation to advertise advantage and forestall vice. ”Everybody has an obligation for this, however it needs to be executed with good manners and solely by means of verbal recommendation,” he stated.
Watchful Eye Of ’Morality’
Previous to the inside minister’s claims, issues had been raised concerning the presence of the squads in subways in Tehran and different main cities.
Tensions stay excessive in Iran over the hijab legislation, which the authorities took steps to strengthen amid lingering tensions over 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s demise in police custody in September 2022. Amini’s demise, which got here simply days after her detention in Tehran by the morality police for allegedly carrying her hijab improperly, led to nationwide protests and lots of of demonstrators’ deaths throughout the nation.
Regardless of lasting public anger, parliament across the anniversary of Amini’s demise accepted an up to date model of the legislation that included harsher penalties for violations, together with jail sentences of as much as 10 years.
It additionally empowered three intelligence companies — the Intelligence Ministry, the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Group, and the Intelligence Group of the Judiciary — together with police, the Basij paramilitary forces, and the Headquarters for the Promotion of Advantage and Prevention of Vice to take motion in opposition to ladies in violation of the necessary hijab laws.
This all happened as stories of the look of the hijab guards emerged amid efforts to suppress the Girls, Life, Freedom motion cast after Amini’s demise.
And in late October, outrage got here to the fore once more after one other younger lady died following an alleged encounter with ”morality” enforcers earlier that month.
Armita Garavand, 17, died after falling right into a coma after an alleged confrontation at a Tehran subway station on October 1. Some stories have urged she was assaulted by the morality police, whereas others have stated the hijab guards had been accountable.
On November 21, outstanding commentator Abbas Abdi warned within the reformist Etemad newspaper that the deployment of the guards risked additional growing public anger on the authorities and widening societal divisions.
Vahidi’s subsequent characterization of the guards as well-intentioned vigilantes didn’t go over properly with many, together with rights activists and reformist-minded media and politicians.
Mostafa Faghihi, managing director of the Entekhab information web site, skewered Vahidi’s feedback on X, previously often known as Twitter, on November 22.
”Fascinating! So, this tunnel of horrors on the metro is a residents’ [initiative]!” the put up stated. ”Do folks additionally pay their month-to-month wage? Are additionally they employed and arranged below residents’ supervision?”
On November 26, Etemad’s publication of a part of a doc labeled ”extremely confidential” and bearing the seal of the Inside Ministry, shot holes in Vahidi’s denials of a connection between the state and the hijab guards.
Introduced to numerous authorities entities and dated June 9, the doc laid out the tasks of the guards and gave directions on the deployment of 1000’s of them in public locations. It additionally outlined a broader technique of coping with hijab violators, who it stated needs to be photographed in all areas of the subway, inside subway automobiles, and handed over to police for arrest.
The obvious hyperlink between the federal government and the hijab guards was additional clarified when the Headquarters for the Promotion of Advantage and Prevention of Vice introduced that there have been greater than 2,800 members of the group deployed, and that its actions had been coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Basij forces, the Tehran municipality, the Prosecutor’s Workplace, and different state our bodies.
The Headquarters for the Promotion of Advantage and Prevention of Vice is a authorities establishment that shapes and enforces Iran’s morality legal guidelines and was instrumental in growing the stricter hijab laws.
Its secretary, Mohammad Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, in August 2022 introduced the set up of surveillance cameras in public areas equivalent to subways to determine ladies in violation of the hijab legislation.
The European Union considers Golpayegani ”chargeable for critical human rights violations in Iran” and in January launched restrictive measures in opposition to him.
Trigger For Dismissal?
The authorities in Iran took steps instantly to punish Etemad for publishing the damning doc that sparked the scandal, with the Public Prosecutor’s Workplace submitting legal expenses in opposition to the newspaper for illegally disseminating confidential data.
The authorized motion trying to muzzle the press together with Vahidi’s claims concerning the hijab guard’s autonomy prompted harsh reactions, together with from inside political circles and media.
In a letter to the judiciary this week, the reformist Voice of Iranians celebration, often known as the Neda celebration, flatly accused Vahidi of being a ”liar” and argued that his feedback had been ”an even bigger and extra unforgivable sin than not carrying a hijab.”
The Rouydad24 information web site, in the meantime, known as for Vahidi’s dismissal, arguing that he had ”lied” to the folks and that his place on the hijab guards was ”hypocritical.”