Iran adding 80,000 personnel to enforce hijab in Tehran province
Iran scrapped a stricter law on women’s head coverings last year and some women are now defying the restrictions altogether.
Iran has launched a new government entity that will deploy 80,000 personnel to Tehran province to enforce head covering laws for women, an official announced on Friday as Iranian women increasingly scoff at mandatory hijab laws.
What happened: Rouhollah Momennasab, the secretary of the province’s Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, announced the formation of the Chastity and Hijab Situation Room, telling reporters that the new body will pursue a “major transformation in implementing chastity and hijab policies,” Iranian media reported.
The force of 80,000 people including educators and judicial officers throughout the province will conduct surveillance in schools, public spaces and online.
The Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil enforces a variety of behavioral laws in Iran, particularly pertaining to women’s clothing. It works alongside other agencies including the morality police. Women have been forced to wear the hijab, an Islamic head covering, since the Islamic Republic’s inception in 1979. Under the current law, women face fines and potential imprisonment for not complying with the dress code.
