“The regime of the Islamic Republic has certainly evolved in its methods of attacking our women who defy the hijab. Yesterday it was sour on their faces, today they pour yogurt over their heads,” one social media user wrote.
But Seyed Davood Nabizadeh, the head of the local office for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, defended the unknown perpetrator.
“While we support our members in ensuring women comply with mandatory hijab, their actions should be advisory rather than physical,” he said.
With Iranian women increasingly ignoring the regime’s dress code in the wake of mass protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, the head of Iran’s judiciary yesterday/SAT vowed to punish those who broke the rules.
‘Persecuted without mercy’
Uncovered hair, said cleric Mohseni Ejei, “is tantamount to enmity with our values”.
Those “who commit such abnormal acts will be punished” and will be “persecuted without mercy,” he said, without saying what the punishment will be.
Under Islamic Sharia law in Iran, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are required to cover their hair and wear long, baggy clothing. Violators have faced public reprimands, fines or arrests.
An Interior Ministry statement on Thursday described the veil as “one of the foundations of civilization of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic”.
It urged ordinary citizens to confront unveiled women. Such guidelines have encouraged hardliners to attack women with impunity in recent decades.