The broadcast of violent arrests of two women by the Morality Police on Sunday, June 16, on social media has brought the suppression of women under the pretext of mandatory hijab to the forefront of discussions among social media users. This coincides while the candidates of the upcoming presidential elections are avoiding responsibility and their history of supporting the Morality Police and hijab enforcers.
In videos circulating on social media, Iranian women in Tehran are seen being violently taken into police vans by the Morality Police.
These images quickly spread among social media users, sparking their anger and protests against what they see as an “election show.”
The issue of the Morality Police has become a central topic in the debate among the three candidates vying for the presidency, to the extent that it has led to revelations and accusations among government insiders.
Mohammad Fazeli, a sociologist close to the government faction, indirectly criticized Alireza Zakani for avoiding defending the necessity of hijab enforcers (those who admonish or arrest women deemed improperly veiled in metro stations). In the Ham-Mihan newspaper, he asks: “If the majority of Iranians support the Morality Police, mandatory hijab, and the Noor Plan, as proponents of these policies claim, why do principlist candidates not openly defend the Morality Police to increase their votes? They know their claims are baseless.”
Meanwhile, Mashregh News, a website close to the principlists, exposed Masoud Pezeshkian’s alignment with Ali Motahari in questioning then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about the Morality Police. It writes: “For instance, Masoud Pezeshkian signed a petition in 2011 questioning why the chastity and hijab plan had not been implemented. This former parliament member later stated that hijab is law and must be enforced.”
Yesterday, during the presence of the reformist-supported candidate at a student meeting, the Islamic Association of Students at Sharif University of Technology issued a statement addressing Masoud Pezeshkian, saying, “We are tired of your daily colorful deceptions.”
On June 17, during Masoud Pezeshkian’s campaign appearance among students, the secretary of the Islamic Association at Sharif University addressed this government-endorsed candidate, saying, “You see yourself as a doctor who has come to give artificial respiration to the lifeless body of democracy; whereas this body is on its way not to the treatment room, but to the cemetery.”
