By Jaime León
Tehran, Jan 31 (EFE).- The Iranian government announced recently announced its decision not to punish women who do not wear the mandatory Islamic veil and has reduced the presence of the morality police on the streets of Tehran but many Iranian women remain wary and consider this to be a temporary situation caused by the tensions that the country is experiencing.
The relaxation of the veil is evident in the streets of the Iranian capital with many women wearing their hair loose, which has become a gesture of civil disobedience since the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 following her arrest for wearing the hijab incorrectly.
The patrols of the morality police – the body responsible for enforcing the Islamic dress code – have practically disappeared from the streets and those present in some squares do not seem to be active, as until recently when they arrested women.
“The truth is that the pressure against women for wearing the veil has eased a little, but I still see guards who verbally call attention to it,” Parvane, a 28-year-old beauty salon worker who does not wear a hijab, told EFE.
Although the situation has improved in recent months, the young woman said she was distrustful.
“I do not trust any of the authorities or anyone in the (political) system,” she said, referring to Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif, who said last week that the government had decided not to penalize women who do not wear the veil.
Zarif, one of the friendliest faces of the Iranian political system, said in Davos that the easing of pressure on women was an electoral promise of the reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and that it was being upheld with the “consensus” of parliament, the judiciary and the national security council.
The politician’s statements provoked criticism from the most conservative sections of the Islamic country, which have gone so far as to ask for his resignation, while the more progressive population does not quite believe him.
Wearing a veil is still mandatory by law, which punishes women who do not wear a veil with up to two months in prison.
Parvane believes that the relaxation of the dress code is due to the tensions that the country is experiencing on account of the regional situation with the Gaza war, the standoff with Israel and the economic crisis.
“The government’s priority now is not the veil and they are not interested in increasing popular discontent either,” said the young woman, who was arrested twice in the past for not covering her hair.
Parimah, a 42-year-old sculptor, agrees that the government is facing multiple crises and is not interested in increasing “popular discontent” so they have chosen not to impose the veil for the moment.
She herself has not worn the veil since Amini’s death and assured EFE that she had no plans of wearing it.
“The aim is to show that I am against the compulsory hijab and the repression of women. We want more freedoms,” explained the woman, who took part in the 2022 protests sparked by Amini’s death.
The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman sparked protests with a marked feminist tone in which the end of the Islamic republic was called for with cries of “Women, life, freedom”, and which only died down after a harsh crackdown that caused 500 deaths and the arrest of 22,000 people.
Since then, many Iranian women have stopped wearing the veil as a gesture of disobedience and the authorities have tried unsuccessfully to reinstate the garment with repressive measures that includes the confiscation of vehicles and even whipping.
For many women, the veil is simply a symbol that represents the repression of the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 and not wearing it is a form of resistance.
“I will continue to go out without a veil and I am not afraid of anything,” said Farzaneh, a 59-year-old nurse, who told EFE that she stopped wearing a veil after Amini’s death.
“The ultimate goal is to achieve freedom. I am old now but I am fighting so that my children and grandchildren can live in freedom in the future,” she said. EFE
ash-jlr/pd
