Iranian parliament says preparing to implement new hijab bill

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s parliament speaker said late Monday that the country is laying the necessary groundwork and regulations to implement the new controversial hijab bill, proposed in the wake of massive countrywide protests in 2022.

The Chastity and Hijab Law is in reaction to challenges the government faced enforcing its existing hijab laws in the face of widespread protests in 2022, ignited by the death of young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police.

“Both the parliament and the government are seriously pursuing the preparation of the necessary foundation for this law, ensuring that the required equipment, facilities, and regulations are ready. We are also not wasting any time in this process,” Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf told state media.

“When a law is to be implemented, the necessary groundwork must be laid for it, and to be fair, the government is currently working on creating this groundwork for the law,” he added. 

In May of last year, former late President Ebrahim Raisi approved the bill proposed by the judiciary for the "completion of formal legal procedures." 

But current President Masoud Pezeshkian has questioned the feasibility of implementing the law.

“I do not see such a platform ready in our administrative system and I see such behavior as somewhat problematic, we should sit down and discuss and see how this is going to happen,” Pezeshkian said in a September interview.

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In August, Ghalibaf said that the law would be forwarded to the government for the president's signature, enabling governmental bodies to enforce it starting on December 13, but it has been postponed ever since. 

Pezeshkian’s cabinet has faced heavy criticism since its beginning, primarily from conservatives who oppose its agenda.

In late January, Javad Zarif, Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, was slammed after he told an American journalist in Switzerland that enforcing a new hijab law was not part of Pezeshkian’s agenda. Zarif announced on March 3 that he is stepping down from his position after advice from Iran’s judiciary head.

“The difference from the previous law is that there is no imprisonment, no flogging, and no morality police. Instead, it focuses more on fines and monetary penalties,” Ghalibaf said about the new hijab bill.  

According to media reports, fines range from 20 million tomans (about $280) to 165 million tomans(about $2,300).

The stricter hijab law includes measures such as hefty fines for violations, the installation of CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology in state offices to identify offenders and penalties for businesses that fail to enforce the dress code. Additionally, the law also empowers ordinary citizens to report violations.

Iran’s public security police, the Faraja, will primarily be responsible for identifying violations and violators using Iran's smart intelligence system, which employs cameras and information databases.

“Any woman who removes her hijab in public, in public places, or in passages that are typically in the view of non-mahrams [non-first-degree relatives]…” will be located “through the smart systems of the Islamic Republic of Iran Police Command (Faraja), by matching with other reliable databases and definitively verifying the perpetrator's identity,” the law reads.