A well-known Shia cleric in Iran has refused to use violence to force women to wear the hijab as protests have been raging in the country over the death of Mahsa Amini for months. Islamic Republic.
On Thursday evening, Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Nasser Makarem al-Shirazi as saying that he “does not consider violence and pressure to be effective on the hijab issue.”
The agency said the statement was made by a prominent religious authority known for its conservative stances during a reception in the Shiite holy city of Qom in the center of the country to Minister of Culture Muhammad Mahdi Al-Ismaili.
IRNA quoted Al-Shirazi as saying that some “link the veil issue to political issues, believing that removing the veil will weaken the Islamic Republic.”
But he continued: “The President and ministers should know that they are in a difficult situation. It is true that the enemy is acting with force, but we have no problem.”
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister Izzatullah Zargami called for greater leniency on the issue of veiling in public.
The judiciary announced on January 10 that it wants to strictly enforce the law, which imposes penalties on every woman who does not comply with the rules for wearing a veil in public places.
Hundreds of people, including dozens of members of the security forces, were killed during the protests.
Thousands have also been arrested on the sidelines of the movements, much of which Iranian officials consider “riots” behind the “enemies” of the Islamic Republic.
Islamic Republic law requires women, whether Iranian or foreign, to wear the hijab in public.
After the protests broke out, women could be seen walking around without headscarves in Tehran and other cities without being acted upon or warned by the police.
In recent weeks, the judiciary has closed a number of cafes and restaurants, some of them temporarily, on the grounds that some patrons do not wear the hijab.
