Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Iran's Parliament Passes Stricter Mandatory Headscarf Law Days After Protest Anniversary
By admin
Published 1 year ago on
September 21, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to impose heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public and those who support them.

The move came just days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the morality police for violating the country’s dress code. Her death in custody ignited months of protests in which many called for the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy.

The bill also extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the mandatory headscarf, known as hijab, and activists who organize against it. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison if the offense occurs in an organized way.

The bill, which was approved by 152 lawmakers in Iran’s 290-seat parliament, requires ratification by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that serves as constitutional watchdog. It would take effect for a preliminary period of three years.

The demonstrations sparked by Amini’s death on Sept. 16, 2022, faded early this year following a heavy crackdown on dissent in which more than 500 protesters were killed and over 22,000 detained.

But many women continued to flaunt the rules on wearing hijab, prompting a new campaign to enforce them over the summer. Iran’s clerical rulers view the hijab law as a key pillar of the Islamic Republic and blamed the protests on Western nations, without providing evidence.

The protesters said they were motivated by anger over the dress code as well as what they see as the corruption and poor governance of the country’s ruling clerics.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, a gunman shot a cleric to death in the northern Iranian town of Sejas. Police detained the assailant, and authorities said the motive was a personal dispute, according to the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies.

Several clerics were attacked at the height of the protests. An armed guard at a bank shot and killed a senior Shiite cleric in April.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Progress Is Made on a Huge Fire North of Los Angeles While New Fires Erupt in Southern California

DON'T MISS

Fresno DUI Suspect Arrested After Crash Kills Pedestrian, Injures Another

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sex Offender Arrested Fleeing on Motorcycle With Drugs

DON'T MISS

As the Fresno GOP Turns: Cease and Desist Letter Sent to Rebel Leader

DON'T MISS

When Did Fresno EOC Finances Start Their Downhill Plunge?

DON'T MISS

Trump Signs Executive Order on Developing Artificial Intelligence ‘Free From Ideological Bias’

DON'T MISS

Trump Pardons Anti-Abortion Activists Convicted for Blocking Abortion Clinic Entrances

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Star Pro Smog Burglary Investigation

DON'T MISS

SZA to Join Kendrick Lamar as a Guest During Super Bowl Halftime Performance

DON'T MISS

California Approves $2.5B for State Response to Los Angeles-Area Fires

UP NEXT

Mexican Border States Prepare Migrant Shelters as Trump Begins Deportation Campaign

UP NEXT

Iraq OKs Marriage for 9-Year-Old Girls, Inciting Outrage

UP NEXT

Danish Politician Tells Trump to ‘F— Off’ Regarding Greenland

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

UP NEXT

Afghans Who Fled Taliban Rule Urge Trump to Lift Refugee Program Suspension

UP NEXT

Israel’s Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures, Adding to Pressure on Netanyahu

UP NEXT

Facing Setbacks and Desertions at the Front, Ukraine Detains Commanders

UP NEXT

Palestinians Confront a Landscape of Destruction in Gaza’s ‘Ghost Towns’

UP NEXT

Canada Relieved Trump Doesn’t Impose Tariffs on the Major US Trading Partner on First Day

UP NEXT

Ceasefire: Hamas Returns 3 Israeli Hostages, Israel Frees 90 Palestinian Prisoners

As the Fresno GOP Turns: Cease and Desist Letter Sent to Rebel Leader

12 hours ago

When Did Fresno EOC Finances Start Their Downhill Plunge?

13 hours ago

Trump Signs Executive Order on Developing Artificial Intelligence ‘Free From Ideological Bias’

13 hours ago

Trump Pardons Anti-Abortion Activists Convicted for Blocking Abortion Clinic Entrances

14 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Star Pro Smog Burglary Investigation

15 hours ago

SZA to Join Kendrick Lamar as a Guest During Super Bowl Halftime Performance

15 hours ago

California Approves $2.5B for State Response to Los Angeles-Area Fires

16 hours ago

Senate Confirms Ratcliffe to Lead the CIA, Giving Trump His Second Cabinet Member

16 hours ago

Madera County Two-Vehicle Crash Claims Winton Woman’s Life

16 hours ago

Is Matthew Stafford Retiring? Rams Coach Wants Answer ‘Sooner Than Later’

17 hours ago

Progress Is Made on a Huge Fire North of Los Angeles While New Fires Erupt in Southern California

LOS ANGELES — Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wild...

10 hours ago

Apparatus sits on Sepulveda Blvd. as fire burns along Interstate 405, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP/Mark J. Terrill)
10 hours ago

Progress Is Made on a Huge Fire North of Los Angeles While New Fires Erupt in Southern California

A Fresno driver, Marcelo Gaytan, 56 was arrested for DUI after fatally striking a 98-year-old woman and critically injuring an 82-year-old man in a pedestrian collision. (Fresno PD)
11 hours ago

Fresno DUI Suspect Arrested After Crash Kills Pedestrian, Injures Another

Benny Brusso, 56, was arrested Thursday after fleeing from deputies on a motorcycle and found to be a registered sex offender with drugs and copper wire in his possession. (GV Wire File)
12 hours ago

Fresno County Sex Offender Arrested Fleeing on Motorcycle With Drugs

12 hours ago

As the Fresno GOP Turns: Cease and Desist Letter Sent to Rebel Leader

13 hours ago

When Did Fresno EOC Finances Start Their Downhill Plunge?

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
13 hours ago

Trump Signs Executive Order on Developing Artificial Intelligence ‘Free From Ideological Bias’

14 hours ago

Trump Pardons Anti-Abortion Activists Convicted for Blocking Abortion Clinic Entrances

15 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Public’s Help in Star Pro Smog Burglary Investigation

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend