One year has passed since the death of Mahsa Amini over the issue of hijab; a year in which the public has been confronted with the issue of mandatory hijab and the government’s confrontation with the people on this issue has taken on a different dimension. Now is a turning point for the government. The three branches of the political system in Iran have joined hands to draft and enforce a law that, in simple terms, silences opposition to mandatory hijab.

The “Family Support Bill through the Promotion of Chastity and Veil Culture”, now known as the “Chastity and Veil Bill”, has sparked many reactions in the political arena and Iranian society on the anniversary of last year’s events. This bill was drafted in the judiciary branch as the “Bill for the Protection of Chastity and Veil Culture” and was sent to the government with 9 articles. The government, after incorporating some opinions, sent it to the parliament about 3 months ago with 15 articles. However, in the parliament, the judiciary commission not only made changes to the title, but also unprecedentedly increased the number of articles to 70.

This draft was approved in the first week of August by the Judiciary and Legal Commission of the Iranian Parliament, and it is said that since its text was uploaded on the Parliament’s system, representatives have submitted nearly 1600 proposals and amendments to be considered during the final review. However, in order to determine the fate of this draft as soon as possible, its final review was referred back to the Judiciary and Legal Commission of the Parliament on August 22nd, with the opinion of the majority of the members. This review, according to Mosi Ghaffarabadi, the head of this commission in the Iranian Parliament, only took a week and was completed on August 29th. Now, with the speed that the Parliament has shown in finalizing this draft, it seems that we will soon witness its final approval in the open session of the Parliament and its implementation.

Interesting that despite all the amendments made in the current version of the mentioned bill, this version is still not pleasing to some supporters of mandatory hijab and they do not consider it as a deterrent. Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of Ali Khamenei in Kayhan Institute, is one of the dissatisfied people with this bill and in a note in Kayhan newspaper, wrote that if the hijab and chastity bill is passed as it is, “its role in preventing hijab-less behavior is similar to preventing a flood by pulling barbed wire” and recommended that the bill be returned to the government. Although the return of the bill to the government did not happen, the parliament has made every effort to at least secure the minimum support of this part of the supporters of mandatory hijab, in order to make the output of this bill as restrictive as these hardliners expect, and make the society even more closed off than before.

As it has been evident so far, this bill has added at least 30 new crimes to the country’s criminal and punishment system. This is a matter that, regardless of the inflationary effects on the increase of criminal titles in the country’s laws, shows the government’s completely security and law enforcement-oriented approach towards the issue of hijab. This is a matter that, according to some, after the killing of Mahsa Amini in the detention of the Basij forces last year and the limited and temporary retreat of the government from its strict policies regarding hijab, did not seem practical. However, on the contrary, the government, with the collaboration of all its forces and institutions, and by introducing this bill, has shown that not only does it not intend to retreat from its strict policies on hijab, but it also intends to preserve this stronghold with an even stronger and firmer grip.

The significant impact of this bill on the lives of millions of Iranian men and women, both opponents and supporters of mandatory hijab, is worth considering. The hasty examination of some of the provisions of this bill has caused a lot of controversy and in a situation where expressing dissent in various forms is limited by significant restrictions imposed by the government, social media has become the main platform for criticism, protest, and opposition. It would be beneficial to take a look at some of these reactions.

“Yaghma Fashkhami, an Iranian journalist residing in Iran, wrote on the social media network X (formerly known as Twitter) regarding one of the articles of this bill: “Article 14 of the chastity and #hijab bill, paragraph 3: The Ministry of Health is obligated to design administrative arrangements in the headquarters of hospitals, universities, and other centers related to the Ministry of Health, based on preserving the boundaries of #sharia privacy between male and female employees. P.S. Gentlemen, write the bill, at least for your own health, eat camphor.”

Another user named “flore” wrote on social network X: “The shameless dictator sinks deeper and deeper into the swamp with the modesty and hijab bill every day. #Mahsa_Amini”

Hassan Younesi, a lawyer and the son of former Minister of Intelligence Mohammad Khatami, also wrote on the social media network X in response to this bill: “This is no longer called the #Hijab and Chastity Bill; it is a bill for establishing an Islamic military government.”

Mohammad Fadeli, a critical sociologist living in Iran, also wrote on the social media network X about the rapid progress of this bill in parliament, saying: “The head of the parliamentary judicial commission stated that there were no challenges in reviewing the bill on chastity and hijab.” In their book “Development as Empowerment of Government”, Perichat, Endroz, and Wolcak describe how the simplest task in government is writing documents, and in this particular case, there have been no challenges at all.

Sofia Nasrollahi is an Iranian journalist and another user on the social media network X who has expressed her opinion about this bill. Like Mohammad Fazeli, she also made a sarcastic comment about the remarks of the head of the Judiciary Commission regarding the lack of challenges in dealing with this bill, and wrote: “It’s obvious there was no challenge…the real challenge is when there is some intelligence involved…a group of fools has no challenge.”

And another user with the name “behnam2k” on X, referring to the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in the detention of the Basij forces and the subsequent protests, wrote: “Nothing has gotten better, nothing has changed! It has been about a year that they have been talking about cultural work and the modesty and hijab bill and the crackdown and poisonings! Billions of tomans have been spent on plans and programs and bills. But after a year, they have returned to square one, by force and violence! Nothing is normal and #Women_Life_Freedom continues.”

These are just a small sample of the reactions to the modesty and hijab bill. According to some experts and analysts of social networks, the reactions to the modesty and hijab bill have been less than previous similar cases, and users have shown less reaction compared to past events. This is a subject that, according to these experts, after the bill becomes a law and is implemented, will take on a different course due to the significant social burden and serious consequences that will follow, and the main wave of protests must be expected at that time.