US takes on Iran over woman's death in moral police custody & crackdown on anti-Hijab stir

The United States on Tuesday condemned the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman who lost her life after plunging into a comma following the alleged "custodial torture". Taking to the microblogging site, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the victim, Mahsa Amini, could be alive and called on the Iranian government to end its systemic persecution of women. He also appealed to the government to allow peaceful protest. "Mahsa Amini should be alive today. Instead, the United States and the Iranian people mourn her. We call on the Iranian government to end its systemic persecution of women and to allow peaceful protest," he tweeted.

Notably, the critical remarks from the Biden administration came as Iran has been witnessing protests in several regions including, in the hometown of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the so-called “morality police” after claiming that the woman was not wearing the hijab properly. Although police released a video of Amini collapsing after fainting in the police station, protestors alleged she had suffered serious injuries during the police custody. A relative has said she had no history of heart disease. The Kasra hospital in Tehran, where police took Amini after she collapsed and slipped into a coma, said she was brought in without vital signs.

Death of Mahsa Amini sparks major controversy worldwide

Since the death of the 22-year-old woman, a debate has sparked against the "morality police" in the Islamic Republic. A large number of women protestors gathered and removed their Hijab or the black headscarf in protest during the funeral ceremony of Amini. The protestors chanted anti-government slogans and called for the death of the "dictator government".

Some protesters gathered in front of the governor’s building, chanting slogans, which prompted Iranian police to fire tear gas to disperse the protestors. Though the police said there were no injuries in the protest, several videos of people facing grave injuries surfaced on social media platforms. In some videos, police were seen firing tearing gas and water cannons.

US appeals to Iran to let women wear dresses of their choice

Reacting to the reports of police using strict stand against the protestors, US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price also condemned the police brutality and said Iranian women should not be subject to arrest. He advocated for women's rights and said the Iranian government should listen to the protestors and appealed to Tehran to let the woman wear their own choice.  "Iranian women should not be subject to arrest, let alone brutal beatings, for how they choose to dress. Iran’s government should listen to those protesting Mahsa Amini’s unconscionable death in police custody, not fire on them," he said. Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who departed for New York on Monday ordered an investigation and vowed to pursue the case in a phone call with Amini’s family. 

Compulsory and controversial hijab rule in Iran 

It is worth mentioning the headscarf has been compulsory for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and members of the morality police enforce the strict dress code. The force has been criticised in recent years over its treatment of people, especially young women, and videos uploaded on social media have shown officers forcing women into police vehicles. Since 2017, after dozens of women publicly took off their headscarves in a wave of protests, authorities have adopted tougher measures. Despite protests, Iranian hard-liners have called for harsh punishment and even lashes of women who disobey the hijab law, arguing that allowing women to show their hair leads to moral decay and the disintegration of families.