Iran To Enforce Hijab Laws With Fines, Penalties Rather Than Arrests

Iran is changing its tactics in order to help enforce the country’s restrictive mandatory hijab laws and, in doing so, weaken support for the ongoing antigovernment protests. Instead of arresting women who do not adhere to the law, the government will impose fines on the women as well as penalties ranging from community service to an international travel ban to firing women who work in the public sector, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Iran’s deputy attorney general as quoted by Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency.

In addition, businesses that tolerate dress-code violations, such as taxis, restaurants and banks, will be fined if they allow women who are not covering their hair to enter. Iranian authorities say they will use “new surveillance technologies” to enfore the hijab laws.

This new tactic comes a month after Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad-Jafar Montazeri said the country had disbanded the morality police and was considering altering the requirement that women covered their heads in public. There has been no official announcement that the morality police have been disbanded.

The antigovernment protests, which have included women publicly burning their hijabs, began in September following the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the morality police for wearing her hijab incorrectly.