Iran’s cleric leader Raisi says 'hijab is law' after yogurt attack on unveiled women

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on Sunday, April 2 declared that "hijab is the country's law" after a man was recorded throwing yoghurt at unveiled women near the holy Shia Muslim city of Mashhad. "Hijab is “a legal matter", cleric Iranian leader Raisi maintained in his first public remark on the insensitive attack on the Iranian women who chose not to cover their heads at a local shop.

Scores of women in Iran have ditched the "hijab" or the moral Islamic head covering following the September uprising against the Shiite regime's controversial dress protocol after the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in so-called "morality police's" custody.

Remarkable video: An Islamist morality police in Mashhad, Iran pours yogurt over the heads of two women for not wearing hejab.

In a previous era the shopkeeper may have been afraid to intervene against government thugs, but times have changed in Iran. pic.twitter.com/4PWu4btPhl

— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour)

Since the demonstrations gained traction, women have been the target in Iran for allegedly flouting the hijab rules in favour of fundamental human rights. Iran's IRGC officers and the security forces have since violently cracked down on the women refusing to cover up, and have quelled the demonstration using force and coercion.

"Hijab" is the official law in Iran and women are compelled to keep their headscarves on despite the collective angst, anti-government protests, and outrage against what many Iranian women label as the "sexist" dress code that gives leeway to men to target women and walk free. Amini, the Kurdish woman behind the Iranian Revolution-styled uprising was brutally tortured in police custody for her improper headscarf and "loose trousers".

Iranian women protest the role of the morality police.Credit: AP

Women, unveiled, arbitrarily detained, tortured, raped & killed

As courageous Iranian women flooded the streets setting ablaze their hijabs, hundreds of them were arbitrarily detained, tortured, raped and killed, their dead bodies handed to the family members later on, according to rights groups. Hijab law protest in Iran has since swelled into a bigger movement with citizens calling for an ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist cleric regime, whom they accuse of corruption, economic mismanagement and oppression alike. 

On Sunday, Iranian judicial authorities issued an arrest warrant against the mother and daughter duo near the northeastern city of Mashhad after a video went viral of a man seen pouring yoghurt over their head for not wearing the obligatory hijab. Iranian state TV reports that the two women were in violation of the Islamic country's strict female dress rules and will be arrested, despite that they were the subject of the attack.

In their subsequent remark, the 63-year-old woman and her daughter asserted that they stopped wearing a headscarf to show solidarity with women who suffered oppression, right after Amini's custodial death. It was also in solidarity with the mothers of the young protesters who were beaten, tortured and killed by the IRGC forces during the anti-hijab protests, according to the mother. 

"The only thing that I can actually do at this age is to not have a scarf," the 63 year old woman, whose name was kept confidential was reported saying. "To have the scarf or do not have the scarf, for me, is not very important. I'm not young to show off my hair, but I'm not wearing it to show that my views are against the government's views," she adds. 

'Committed a forbidden act'

In the viral video, the two Iranian women who chose not to observe the moral dress code were seen harassed over what is presumed to the “improper clothing" according to the country's hardened Shariah law. Iran also observes a national “Hijab and Chastity Day” on July 12 to celebrate women who have been required to wear the hijab in public since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian Revolution. Credit: AP

Last year, in August, cleric President Ebrahim Raisi signed an order to enforce the dress code law with a new tighter list of restrictions. As a result, women spotted unveiled on public premises such as malls, restaurants, shops and streets become the target of attack or harassment. Women seen driving without headscarves via the traffic surveillance systems are fined. 

The two women victim of the yoghurt attack as seen in the video are deemed to have “committed a forbidden act". 

“If some people say they don’t believe (in the hijab)... it’s good to use persuasion ... But the important point is that there is a legal requirement ... and the hijab is today a legal matter," Raisi said in a state TV address.

In its defence, Iran's judiciary told Mizan Online that an arrest warrant was also issued against the man “on charges of committing an insulting act and disturbance of order." It is learned that the owner of the dairy shop, who confronted the attacker to deter the attack on the women, was given a warning. His shop had been shut down and he is been pressurized to “give explanations” to a court," Iranians claimed on social media. 

Iran's Judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, in his response to the incident threatened to prosecute “without mercy” women who choose to appear unveiled or without hijab in public. There will be "no retreat or tolerance” for uncovered women, Iran's Ministry of the Interior statement read, adding that veil is “one of the civilisational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic".