Iranian prosecutor: “Quickly wants clarity about headscarf obligation” Bulgaria changes election rules under protest

Iranian authorities on Saturday called on the judiciary and parliament to review a 1983 law requiring headscarves. This to find a way out of the protest movement that has claimed hundreds of lives in the past two and a half months.

Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced on Saturday that “Parliament and the judiciary are working to clarify the issue of the headscarf requirement”. However, he said nothing about what specifically might change in the law — especially since ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raissi only imposed new dress restrictions this summer.

The “Veil and Chastity of the Country” law, introduced on July 5, places further restrictions on women. The obligatory headscarf must cover not only the hair but also the neck and shoulders.

Two camps

It’s a very sensitive issue in Iran, with two camps at odds: the conservatives, who support the 1983 headscarf law, and the progressives, who want to give women the right to choose whether or not to wear a veil.

The veil became compulsory in Iran four years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The morality police known as Gasht-e Ershad was established to “spread the culture of decency and headscarf wearing”.

A law that has been in effect since 1983 requires Iranian and foreign women, regardless of religion, to wear a veil and loose clothing in public.

However, at a press conference in Tehran on Saturday, the head of state seemed to open the door to possible changes: “Our constitution has strong and immutable values ​​and principles (…), but there are methods to implement the constitution.” that can be changed,” he said.

Countless casualties

Since Mahsa Amini’s death and subsequent protests, more and more women have bared their heads, especially in northern Tehran.

On September 24, a week after protests began, Iran’s main reform party called on the state to lift the headscarf requirement.

The People’s Union of Islamic Iran, formed by confidants of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), said it “demands” authorities to “prepare the legal elements that will pave the way for the repeal of the law on the compulsory headscarf,” said a statement published at the end of September.

The non-governmental group also demanded that the Islamic Republic “officially announce the end of the activities of the vice squad” and “permit peaceful demonstrations,” the text said.

Thousands of people have been arrested since the movement began. Another film actress, Mitra Hajjar, was arrested at her home on Saturday. She recently published a video on her Instagram account about demonstrations in October in Berlin in support of the movement in Iran (ats/afp).