Global Courant 2023-05-08 18:36:54
This week alone, a sports federation chief is stepping down and several more actresses are being charged with mandatory hijab law.
Tehran, Iran — Iran’s judiciary has subpoenaed two more well-known actresses for publicly removing their headscarves as they continued their efforts to crack down on violations of the country’s hijab laws, which have now extended beyond celebrities to businesses and businesses. include sporting events.
State-affiliated media reported on Monday that lawsuits had been filed against 37-year-old Baran Kosari and 44-year-old Shaghayegh Dehghan for failing to fully comply with hijab laws, which were passed shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Kosari is accused of attending a fellow actor’s funeral without a headscarf on Friday, while Dehghan was photographed with her hair visible at a book unveiling in a cafe in Tehran a day later.
They join a growing list of prominent figures in Iranian cinema who have been indicted over hijab laws.
Fatemeh Motamedaria and Afsaneh Baygan, two veteran actresses, were summoned last week after participating in an event to commemorate another actor.
Veteran actor Reza Kianian, 71, was also charged after defending women’s “right as citizens” to remove their headscarves at the same event.
At the end of April, the police confirmed that the cases of well-known actresses Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram have been referred to the judiciary for the “crime of removing their hijab in public and publishing the images in the virtual space”.
Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi said a number of celebrities have not responded to court calls and threatened to arrest them if they continue to refuse to do so.
Many actresses joined a growing number of Iranian women who took off their hijab after the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who was arrested by the country’s so-called morality police for allegedly breaking hijab laws . The incident sparked months of protests across the country.
Translation: Baran Kosari today at a funeral #Hossam_Mahmoudi_Farid #Baran_Kosari
But as street protests gradually subsided and acts of civil disobedience, such as taking off the hijab, continued, authorities have stepped up their efforts – albeit apparently in a less physically confrontational manner.
Instead of resorting to vans and morality police officers, authorities now monitor hijab offenders through smart cameras, send alerts and then seize vehicles, close businesses and target celebrities.
The Opal Shopping Center in western Tehran and its hundreds of shops were closed for several days at the end of April after warnings.
After the reopening, two more stores were closed after suggesting on their social media pages that they would give discounts to women without hijab.
But the crackdown is taking on more and more new dimensions.
Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri wrote a letter to Transport Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash on Sunday reminding him of a “legal obligation” to enforce hijab laws for passengers on all aircraft.
On the same day, online videos showed women participating in a marathon run in the southern city of Shiraz without headscarves or long-sleeved shirts and more female spectators with their heads uncovered.
Hesham Siami, head of Iran’s athletics federation, resigned after the video was posted. The county’s attorney general said an “investigation” had been launched and local officials had been summoned to provide explanations.
A number of men also wear shorts in public, which is prohibited. The secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Abdolhossein Khosropanah, said last week that men who wear an “inappropriate hijab” should also face legal consequences.
