The planned reform of the incumbent hardliners means no major changes or even a fundamental relaxation of the Islamic dress code.
According to information from the newspaper, the reform means that women who violate the headscarf obligation must first be summoned. If they have not yet received a police record, the suspect can avoid punishment if he assures in writing that the crime will not be repeated. However, if registrations are already in place or if women refuse to sign, various penalties threaten: according to the newspaper reports, the reform includes social hours, retraining courses, a ban on leaving the country, labor restrictions and fines.
The author of the article “Shargh” criticizes that the law will not find public support. Iranians have been demonstrating against the repressive policies for more than three months. The trigger was the death of Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody. She died in mid-September after being arrested by the so-called vice police for violating the headscarf requirement. She became a symbol of the wave of protests that plunged Tehran into its worst political crisis in decades.
According to the newspaper, the moral guardians were no longer mentioned in the reform. For months now, the notorious vice police has almost completely disappeared from the streets and many women in the metropolises of Iran no longer wear headscarves. Time and time again there are reports that the authorities want to follow the dress code in the future with modern surveillance technology.
(SDA)