“Mahsa Amini,” a 22-year-old Kurdish girl from Saqqez, lost her life after being arrested by the Basij forces. She and her brother had traveled to Tehran, and on September 15, 2022, she was detained near Shahid Haghani metro station. After being transferred to the Basij’s “moral-educational” class, she was taken to the hospital due to her deteriorating physical condition and fell into a coma, ultimately passing away. Although the authorities reported her cause of death as a heart condition, doctors say that her brain injuries, skull fracture, and brain death raise questions about the accuracy of this claim. After Mahsa’s death, a video was released of her presence in the Basij’s class, capturing the moment of her physical distress. Multiple conflicting reports, along with her physical condition in the hospital, suggest a scenario of physical abuse and brain damage. Mahsa’s lifeless body was transferred to the forensic medicine

From limitation to prohibition

The comprehensive plan for modesty and hijab was announced by the Ministry of Interior Affairs on July 12, 2022 and has been assigned to the Command Center for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil. The purpose of this command center is to enforce the law of enjoining good throughout the country. In the first stage, government agencies have been asked to implement this plan seriously. Seyyed Ali Khan Mohammad, the spokesperson for the Command Center, stated in an interview with Fars News Agency about monitoring the implementation of the modesty and hijab law: “Our inspectors report on the implementation or non-implementation of the law by visiting institutions and offices. In addition, we have also utilized a large network of modesty and hijab organizations and they report to us. We monitor and follow up on the matter. Our other means of monitoring is through the councils for enjoining good in executive agencies, where we also follow up on the proper implementation of the law. In case of

Ambiguity in the necessity of supervision.

Why was the Council for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice established? This institution was founded in 1993 with the aim of developing a systematic culture of promoting virtue and preventing vice, encouraging all members of society to fulfill this duty with an emphasis on “verbal reminder” and strengthening public supervision in all social affairs and interactions. The efforts of activists in this institution include policy-making and carrying out promotional, supervisory, supportive, and coordinating activities between different departments; activities for which detailed explanations of their reasons and necessity have not been published. With the approval of the Law on Supporting Promoters of Virtue and Preventers of Vice and its executive regulations in 2015, this council continued its activities under a new name, the Council for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, at the central, provincial, and district levels. Saman Haddipour, the deputy of cultural engineering at the National Council for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, announced in an interview with

After the death of Mahsa Amini, virtual campaigns and protests intensified to stop the activities of the Guidance Patrol throughout the country. During her funeral, many slogans were heard opposing and demanding the end of mandatory hijab and the cessation of the Guidance Patrol’s activities by the people. It is not clear which segment of the Iranian people are the ones demanding a violent response from the Guidance Patrol, as mentioned by Hadi Pour in his speeches. The officials of the Guidance Patrol, which Hadi Pour considers as the most important slogan of Ebrahim Raisi’s election, have not yet been implemented.

Fear of interference

Monitoring of clothing in the government of Ebrahim Raisi has increased not only in urban areas, but also in coastal and tourist areas of the country. Field visits report an increase in the number of Basij patrol cars in urban areas and on the beaches of southern cities of the country. Mahshid, a resident of Bandar Abbas, says: “Security forces have always been present in urban areas, but people were not afraid. However, in August of this year, with the announcement of a ban on wearing open-front coats and various strange regulations regarding the clothing of men and women, people were more cautious in their movements in urban areas. Many people chose routes with the least encounters with police cars and Basij patrols.” The number of security force cars and Basij patrols on the beaches of southern islands such as Qeshm, Kish, and Hormuz has significantly increased compared to last year, according to travelers and residents of the islands. For the first time, a tent and

Forcing under the pretext of obligation?

According to Saman Hadipour, the police force has designed a software called “Nazir1” for cars and taxis. If a female driver is discovered wearing a hijab or even if her scarf falls off, a report will be sent to the central office and a violation message will be sent online to the driver. According to the supervisors, if this behavior is repeated, the offending vehicle will be confiscated. Public reports show that this monitoring system is being implemented inefficiently. Many male drivers have reported receiving violation messages for not wearing a hijab. Contrary to what was stated in the plan, sometimes cars without violations are confiscated without the driver’s knowledge.

One citizen shares their strange experience of having their car impounded: “I was driving and my wife was breastfeeding our baby in the car. When we arrived home, I received a text message about a dress code violation. I woke up in the morning and realized my car was gone. I found out that without my knowledge, a tow truck had moved my car to the parking lot. I thought it had been stolen.”

Zahra also shares her strange experience: “I always make sure to wear my headscarf in the car to avoid getting fined. Each fine costs more than 250,000 tomans. Despite this, I still received a text message. I followed up and realized I had been wearing a black scarf at night. Their cameras must have thought I wasn’t wearing anything on my head. My husband went to the police station and made a commitment. We don’t even have the right to choose our own clothing in our own car.”

These are just a few examples of