Politics

Iran says hijab law under review

Tehran, Dec 4 (EFE).- Iran’s authorities are to review the so-called hijab law, a decades-old rule that requires women in the Islamic nation to cover their heads, as protests in recent months have swept across the country after a young Kurdish woman died in police custody over allegedly not wearing a headscarf properly.

Attorney general Mohamad Jafar Montazeri made the announcement on Saturday evening, saying that “both parliament and the judiciary are working” on the issue of whether the law needs changes, Iranian news agency ISNA reported.

Montazeri added that the judiciary would continue to supervise behavior at a community level and said that women’s clothing continues to be very important, especially in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran.

The city of Qom is one of the holiest cities in the Middle East and an international pilgrimage site.

Widespread protests have gripped Iran since September 16 after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her head scarf correctly.

The protests are carried out mainly by young people and women who chant anti-government slogans and burn veils in a symbolic act that would have been unthinkable not long ago.

Security forces are clamping down on protests violently and the authorities are rolling out internet blockades in an attempt to sever communications between protesters.

At least 448 people, including 51 children, have been killed in the police crackdown, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights. EFE

ar/amg/ch

Related Articles

Back to top button