Iran: President Pezeshkian rebels against Supreme Leader Khamenei… refuses to implement new hijab law
Tensions have increased between Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Pezeshkian over the new hijab law in Iran. President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has a liberal image, has made it clear that he cannot implement this law.
On the other hand, after public and global protest, Iran has officially postponed the implementation of the controversial Hijab law, which had harsh provisions like the death penalty for women and girls not wearing hijab.
Refusal to implement hijab law
Iran's reformist leader Ali Shakori-Rad has informed that President Pezeshkian has clearly told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he is not going to implement this law. According to Rad, Pezeshkian has told Khamenei, 'If the new hijab law is implemented, it will cause huge losses to Iran and for this reason, I cannot implement it.'
According to reports, it was only after this conversation between President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme Leader Khamenei that the decision to postpone the new hijab law was taken. Earlier, Iranian activists and women's rights advocates had appealed to President Pezeshkian to use his powers to stop this law from coming into effect.
The amended bill will be introduced in Parliament.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council requested in a letter to parliament on Saturday that the process of implementing the 'Hijab and Purity' law be halted so that the government can introduce a revised bill in parliament.
The new law related to compulsory hijab in Iran was to come into effect last week, but it could not happen due to the refusal of President Pezeshkian. This new law of the Islamic Republic includes a fine equivalent to about 20 months' salary, prison sentence, flogging and even death penalty on women who oppose hijab. Now it remains to be seen what kind of change the Supreme National Security Council is going to make in it after the President's refusal.
Criticism of controversial hijab law
Amnesty International condemned the new law, saying it increases the oppression of women and girls, while making those who oppose the rules subject to capital punishment.
Mary Mohammadi, an Iranian political expert living in the US, says that the aim of this law is to stop women's struggle by making it costly. She said that this law is an attempt to stop women's demands from progressing, encourage the ideological supporters of the administration, destroy the thinking of the society by creating conflict in everyday life and weaken the revolutionary potential of women.