The mandatory hijab (headscarf) has been forced on women in Iran for over 40 years based on ancient Sharia (Islamic religious) law. An instance of its brutal enforcement led to the death in police custody of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022. Her death was a last straw for millions and provoked the Women, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran where throngs of women, supported by men, joyfully burned their hijabs in bonfires.

Yet Iran’s Guardian Council approved a NEW “Chastity and Hijab” law in October that marks a further, all-around escalation to propagate Dark Ages patriarchy and misogyny. According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), it “…creates the conditions for grave violence against women. Its scope is so wide that the government is relying on citizen enforcers to ensure compliance, which is a set-up for vigilante violence against women in Iran.” (See Iran Wages War Against Women with Draconian New Hijab Law by CHRI.) CHRI sums up the broad scope and danger of the law in saying, “Perhaps most dangerously, its use of civilian enforcement will encourage vigilante violence. Women in Iran who reject the hijab or other measures of gender control are already subjected to brutal violence—by the police and interrogators in detention centers, by Basij militia members who infiltrate peaceful protests, and by male family members who believe women have ‘dishonored’ them. This law gives a free hand to vigilantes to act with impunity against women challenging forced hijab, under the pretext of encouraging law enforcement. It explicitly states in Article 59 that such enforcers cannot be “held accountable for carrying out an obligation under Sharia.”

To cite just a few of the 74 articles that give a sense of the law’s draconian character:

• Article 1 equates removing the hijab with nudity and indecency and defines “immodesty” in vague and subjective terms that can be applied arbitrarily, noting that it can refer to “any type of behavior, speech, and sensual movements that violate Islamic law." (Violation of forced hijab is not limited to covering with a headscarf but includes clothing that “exposes areas below the neck, above the ankles, or above the wrists, or clothing that ‘tempts’ others.”)
• The clothing and fashion industry (Art. 5), the film and television production industries, the advertising industry, and the book publishing industry (Art. 7-2), and other industries must all strictly conform to the law.
• Teachers will be selected on the basis of their observance of hijab (Art. 10-4) and hijab compliance will be “key” in selecting students to universities (Art. 11-7 and 12-5).
• Public spaces, including parks and public transportation, will be continuously monitored (Art. 17-8). Licenses of athletic organizations and public associations that “encourage the removal of the hijab” will be revoked (Art. 19-4).
• The police will strengthen “smart systems” to identify “perpetrators” using tools such as fixed and mobile cameras and artificial intelligence (Art. 29-1). The police will employ “trusted personnel” in the “streets, public places, businesses, vehicles and cyberspace” to report violators; the only requirements of these “personnel” are that they be married Muslims committed to the Islamic Republic. (This will promote vigilante violence.) (Art. 29-3)
• Anyone who has “fame” (e.g., an artist, athlete, or other influential figure) or is a “social influencer” who violates the hijab law in real or cyberspace will be sentenced to the punishment prescribed for the crime committed, plus fined…. If repeated, the fine can double. They will also be banned from professional activities for up to six months, banned from leaving the country for up to two years, and banned from online activities for two years. (Punishments increase in subsequent cases.) (Art. 42)
• Cars whose driver or passengers do not comply with hijab will be fined 1.7 million tomans (Art. 54). Taxis must incorporate systems that allow drivers to report passengers who violate the hijab law. Only if the driver reports a passenger violating the law to the police, will they be exempt from paying the fine (Art. 54, Note 2). Managers of transportation companies must equip all vehicles under their management with surveillance tools (Art. 55).
• Failure to pay any fines will result in denial of the following services: passport issuance/replacement; car license plate services; permits to exit the country; release of impounded vehicles; issuance or replacement of a driver’s license (Art. 56, Note 1).
• All government agencies and persons providing services to the public, such as banks or transportation companies, business owners and local officials, must provide the images of their cameras to the police in order to identify violators (Art. 64).
• Anyone cooperating with governments, media, or foreign groups or individuals in promoting hijab removal will be sentenced to 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined from 330 million to 500 million tomans, unless the crime falls under Article 286 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which includes spreading corruption and prostitution on a large scale and other offenses that are considered “corruption on earth” and thus punishable by death. (Prominent anti-hijab activists have previously been prosecuted under manufactured prostitution charges.) (Art. 37)

“We Must Form Ranks on This Line Of Demarcation”

In a fierce response to this “war against women,” the following statement was posted on the Instagram account of OSYAN (@maosyangarim) on December 2. OSYAN is a group of Iranian and Afghan women who are the voice of women’s rebellion, and express their determination to struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The English translation below is by IEC volunteers (with minor edits in brackets). Their statement says:

“Iran’s New Compulsory Hijab and Chastity Law Sends the Message:
This Is War, and There Is No Neutral Ground!”

The chastity and hijab law is not only a declaration of war by the government against women—it also forces members of society to line up against one another. Confronted with the solidarity that people showed to the fighters in the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, [Iran’s theocratic rulers] who were dealt a severe blow by this united struggle have little choice left other than to sow seeds of dissension and pit people against each other to separate women from their allies so as to more easily suppress and control them.

The law seeks to restore [enforcing] the "compulsory hijab" to repair the serious cracks that the Jina [WLF] Uprising caused in what had for 45 years been the ideological pillar of the Islamic Republic, and to equip it with new dimensions of repression and control. For example, it turns public spaces into cyberspace arenas [of repression] with surveillance cameras, and turns private businesses into government employees, with the threat of penalties for anyone who will not "snitch" and spy for the government.

With this law, the government is sending society a message: this is war, and there is no neutral ground! Either you are with us or against is, in which case you shall be punished with fines, imprisonment, etc. Pay Up!

Many women have already replied that they will not go back! But the government's success in enforcing this brutal law depends on the response by other segments of society. The same people who were of the opinion that “[a taxi service] should get fined if they don't issue a citation” [to hijab-free women riders]"; and "a café should get closed down if it doesn’t issue a citation” [to hijab-free women customers], are now witnessing the police-state control over women become law! Collusion with the government to commit violence against women shall be rewarded, and disobeying shall be punished!

With this law, the government has obliged all its ministries, institutions and organizations to bend the knee and uphold this pillar of the compulsory hijab, lest the entire ruined palace rain down on their heads. Does anyone still dare to say that the compulsory hijab is a peripheral issue or that fighting against it is optional? We must form ranks on this line of demarcation: We stand against the Islamic Republic and stand with women and Woman, Life, Freedom.

Where do you stand?

Resistance Rises Against New Law

There is widespread condemnation of the new law, as well as courageous protests of many organizations and prominent figures who have made public their opposition. The defiance of individuals inside Iran is just beginning to unfold, notably and immediately by cultural figures and students who are taking enormous risks—singer Parastoo Ahmadi, arrested for singing hijab-free, stands out. (See accompanying article.)

As of December 14, 2024, Iran’s new “Chastity and Hijab Law” was scheduled to be implemented, but was not signed by the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and remains a point of contention not only in Iranian society as a whole, but even within the ranks of Islamist groups in and around the regime, as well as eliciting widespread outrage worldwide. As of December 15, there are reports that the implementation of the new law has been postponed so it can be amended, not cancelled. Stay tuned for developments in this outrage and resistance to it.

Breaking news: Singer Parastoo Ahmadi and the two members of her band were released after a brief detention, and following a huge global outcry. It is not clear yet whether charges are still pending.

Two days before the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) was scheduled to implement its draconian new law titled “Chastity and Hijab” (see accompanying article), singer Parastoo Ahmadi live-streamed a virtual concert inside Iran in which she defied both the Islamic dress code and the ban on women singing solo in public. In it, she declared: “I am Parastoo, a girl who cannot stay silent and refuses to stop singing for the people she loves.”

This act of extraordinary bravery thundered across the world, within two days garnering 1.5 million views on her YouTube channel and millions of views of the teaser clip on social media.

On December 14, the IRI arrested Parastoo in Mazandaran as well as Ehsan Biraqdar and Sohail Faqih Nasiri, two of the four male musicians who accompanied her for the concert, arrested at their school in Tehran. Judicial authorities had previously announced charges against the performers and concert organizers for an “illegal concert” which “did not comply with the country's legal and cultural standards.”

Parastoo Ahmadi and her band were well aware of the risks they were taking. She was arrested in 2022 during the Woman, Life, Freedom (WLF) uprising. The uprising was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini for “improper hijab.” Parastoo was forced to remove a song, “From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland,” from her platforms. This was one of the songs she sang at this recent live-streamed concert.

Especially in moments in history when a society is torn by wrenching conflicting forces, as is happening in Iran over this new, cruel “Chastity and Hijab” law focused on the mandatory hijab, the courageous actions of people who stand up, risking jail and worse, can have an impact far beyond their numbers by expressing and catalyzing the currents of rebellion and rage which are suppressed and smoldering under the surface. Parastoo Ahmadi and other political prisoners who have risked all to play this kind of role must be defended! The role of all the prisoners who have been on “No to Execution Tuesday” weekly hunger strikes for close to a year now; the amazing role of the leftist women of Evin prison; the many threatened but resolute artists (e.g., Toomaj Salehi, Mohammad Rasoulof, Jafar Panahi, and yes Parastoo and her concert cohort) bring all this to the world with passion, creativity and artistry… all this is a call in our tumultuous and dangerous world—from Iran to the U.S., from Gaza to Lebanon—to rise and shine a brilliant light on the fierce fight to demand a far better world, to support and join them with urgency and determination. These are OUR people.

Contribute and join the IEC’s work laid out at this website.

We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!

We say to the U.S. government:

NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!