Iran: Thousands of clothes shops shut down for violating compulsory dress-code standards

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Hossein Sajedi-Nia, a Commander of the State Security Forces, announced that over 4,400 clothes shops were shut down last year because they sold “indecent apparel violating public morality”.

He said that the regime has failed to adequately suppress women, saying that “the current status of the hijab and virtue does not conform to an Islamic society”. He added that monitoring of women’s veiling has been examined and it appears that the situation has been getting worse for the past 15 years.

On 12th August a meeting was held to find new ways to suppress women. There, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, confirmed that the regime had failed in its repressive campaigns. He said that regarding chastity and public morality, “24 departments have responsibilities… Despite the fact that specialized courts have been set up in Tehran to encounter these types of offenses, a lack of coordination among relevant departments, has prevented progress.”

He added that people who choose to ignore the regime’s suppressive rules are often seen in “public places such as parks, restaurants, etc. and it is necessary to overcome this atmosphere by providing solutions”.

In reference to Khamenei’s orders on women’s veiling, the regime’s Prosecutor-General for Tehran also urged regime officials to deal with “offenses against public chastity and morality” according to state-run news agency ISNA on 12th August 2016. On 20th July 2016, Khamenei said: “Any discussion over the voluntary or mandatory nature of the Hijab (women’s veil) is deviatory, and does not have any place in the Islamic Republic…. If it turns out that something is religiously unlawful (haram), the Islamic regime is duty-bound to stand against such haram.”

The Women’s Committee of the NCRI have condemned the Iranian regime’s “backward and repressive” positions against women. They said: “There is no doubt that in fear of the Iranian people and women’s growing protests, the misogynist regime seeks the remedy in further escalation of oppression of women. They know, however, that this will only foment the Iranian people’s fury against the regime as manifested in the protests by various strata of society.”