Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian said morality police would no longer “harass” women for wearing the hijab, days after the UN warned that women were still being punished violently for breaking the strict dress code.
His comments come on the second anniversary of the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing a hijab properly, sparking protests across the country.
The UN said last week that the Iranian government had “intensified efforts” since that period to stifle women’s rights and destroy any last vestiges of activism.
But on Monday, Pezeshkian said that the regime’s moral police should no longer be confronting women on the street.
Pezeshkian, who became president after his predecessor was killed in a helicopter crash, is seen as a potential reformist leader.
He was answering questions from a reporter who said she swerved on her way to a press conference to avoid police vans. She was wearing a loose headscarf that showed a little of her hair.
When Pezeshkian was asked if the police were still on the streets, she answered yes.
“The morality police should not have clashed with the women. I will make sure they don’t get in the way,” he said.
His comments were broadcast live on the main state TV networks, including the news channel IRINN. The recording of the conversation with the journalist has since gone viral on the Internet.
It was Pezeshkian’s first press conference since taking office in July, replacing the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi.
During his election campaign, he promised to oppose police patrols that enforce the mandatory hijab headscarf. He also promised to loosen some of the country’s longstanding internet controls.
Iran has stepped up social media surveillance following anti-establishment protests led by women across the country in 2022.
Signs of a potentially more relaxed attitude to the country’s strict women’s dress code were present at his press conference on Monday, where some female reporters wore loose headscarves.
This was a noticeable departure from previous official events where female journalists must appear in full hijab, reports BBC Monitoring.
But the latest UN fact-finding mission in the country says women “still live in a system that reduces them to second-class citizens”.
In its report released last week, the UN said: “State authorities have expanded repressive measures and policies to further deprive women and girls of their basic rights.”
They note that the government has “increased surveillance of hijab observance” in both public and private settings, while also supporting escalating violence in punishing women and girls who break the rules, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
