It is not the first time that Iranians have received a message from the authorities on their mobile phones. It's a common practice that they use at different times: fines for breaking the speed limit, warnings for not wearing the veil properly inside vehicles or a New Year's greeting. But the text that reached them a few days ago was different: it was the confirmation that the expected counteroffensive to reimpose the use of the veil was intensifying. And, as many women had predicted, it happened before the end of the holy month of Ramadan, celebrated yesterday, which officially marks the beginning of summer. The authorities fear that, if during the cold months the absence of the veil became widespread, the situation will be even more uncontrollable with the arrival of the heat.
"Dear compatriot, it is necessary to respect and observe the hijab law like any other law", reads the message that arrived this week. The warning - read by many as a threat - was preceded by the announcement made by the newly appointed head of the police, Ahmad-Reza Radan, who had made public the strategies with which the regime seeks to bring women back to cover your head: installation of artificial intelligence cameras in the streets to identify the face of offenders, cuts in access to mobile phone service and internet for those who go without a veil, confiscation of vehicles , labor or academic expulsions, closure of businesses that serve with their heads uncovered.
"None of what they are doing is supported by any law, there is nothing still valid in Parliament, but for them this is the same. They think they can do whatever they want with us women", explains a lawyer who asks to be identified by the name of Nazgol. This 45-year-old woman took off her veil since the tragic death of Mahsa Jina Amini on September 16. The 22-year-old Kurdish girl collapsed in a police station after being captured by the now defunct morality police in Tehran. At the hospital they declared that he had arrived with brain death.
The outburst of indignation that arose then gave rise to the protests that have most harshly challenged the existence of the Islamic Republic in recent decades. His response was to launch a campaign of repression that resulted in more than 500 deaths, thousands of arrests and dozens of young people with lifelong physical injuries. But, in one of those paradoxes that have marked life in Iran since the triumph of the revolution in 1979, the authorities turned a blind eye to the women who started a campaign of civil disobedience and took off their veils.
Suddenly, the streets were graced by long, groomed hair. Hair salons, which have always been a good business in Iran, had even more customers looking to straighten their hair, make attractive hairstyles or dye them different colors. The young women opted for purple, blue or pink flakes.
“My mother called me after hearing the words of Radan – the police commander – and implored me to wear the veil. He is afraid that something will happen to me", he explains. The most peculiar thing about this plea is that his mother, a 67-year-old woman, also enjoyed in the last months the freedom to walk down the street with her hair down, something she had not done since the beginning of the revolution when its mandatory use was imposed. At first the woman refused to go uncovered, then she dropped her shawl and in the end she only carried it in her handbag in case of an emergency.
"I was happy", admits Nazgol, who points out that the extent of the new measures announced by the Government will only be known in a couple of weeks. So far the authorities have announced that more than 500 premises have been closed in recent days and that they have sent dozens of notifications to vehicles where a woman without a veil has been detected, a practice they were already doing before the death of Mahsa Amini. If the offense was repeated, the vehicle was confiscated and the owner fined.
Kimia, a 27-year-old designer, explains that in the last few days she has received four messages telling her to wear the veil and observe the rules. But she explains that one of her friends recently received an SMS in which she is being summoned to court for the crime of not wearing a hijab. "It will be interesting to see how far they want to go, we will have to wait", explains Nazgol, the lawyer, who remembers that the authorities do not always have the capacity to implement these restrictive policies. "What they least want is another social uprising," he says.
For now, she continues to go out on the street uncovered, as dozens of women who walked and played sports in Taleqani Park in Tehran did yesterday. Many others have returned to cover themselves for fear that their bank accounts will be closed, they will be kicked out of their jobs or their access to the internet will be blocked. This is the case of Fariba, a 52-year-old housewife. He says he will wait and see what happens in the next few weeks. For now, the veil has been put back.
For Maryam, a 40-year-old producer, the rules are still unclear. He explains that on Thursday he was in a government bank, "I was without a veil and no one said anything to me", he confirms. The only restriction it has been subjected to so far was at Tehran's Mehrabad airport, exclusive to domestic flights. The lady at the counter refused to give her her boarding pass until she put on her veil. Other young people have reported that taxis refuse to take them if they are not wearing a veil.
"My policy will be not to go anywhere where they force me to cover up. If the bank gives me problems, I'll open an account in another or I'll make the arrangements via the internet", explains Maryam, who emphasizes that she's only trying to follow the example of the younger ones, who are the most determined to continue this fight. Within this group is Nina, who works as an accountant in a private company in Tehran where until now women do not have to cover themselves.
She wears her black hair below her shoulders and wears a blue shirt that barely covers her hip. "We, my friends and I, were waiting for this moment to arrive. We knew that [the authorities] could not show weakness in front of their followers. They have always said that the veil is the pillar of the Islamic Republic", he explains.
Nina acknowledges that the most important fear in recent months has been the attitude of Iranians, civilians or militiamen, who attack or reprimand women who do not wear head coverings.
The clergy who are in charge of Friday prayer, from their pulpits, have invited citizens to enforce the rules. And the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has linked the absence of the hijab to a campaign by Iran's enemies. A few weeks ago, a man threw bottles of yogurt at a mother and her daughter when they were shopping in a store in Maixad, the country's second city. During the Persian New Year holiday, which coincides with the arrival of spring, many women reported being approached by people who accused them of not covering themselves. And others are accused by neighbors or passers-by through a telephone line dedicated to these cases.
Until now, a large sector of society has refused to succumb to this type of threat. Just as they have ignored the warning of the head of the judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who threatened to deal with cases related to the veil "without mercy". But it is not always easy to be able to continue this fight, explains Nina, who warns that they fear that more serious attacks will occur, such as acid attacks, as happened in Esfahan in 2014. None of these cases have been clarified. "I'm ready to go to prison, but I'm afraid that nothing more serious could happen," says Nina.
Universities are another scenario where many women have had to give in. "If we don't obey them, they ban us from registering and we can't attend classes after that. That's why many of us had to put the hijab back on," explains Marzieh, 20, a design student. Many young women in different cities of the country have been suspended for several semesters and have been expelled from the dormitories.
This week, the case of Zahra Rahimi, a university student from the city of Yazd, who ended up in hospital after being expelled from the university for two semesters, became known. Some versions say that the young woman's attack came after a meeting with the rector of the center. In Tehran, several groups of students have carried out protests as a rejection of these measures.
"We will only know the result of this campaign later. I don't think they have the ability to control the younger people,” says Maryam, the producer, pointing to a group of young people with short hair and short-sleeved cotton shirts. "Something has changed and it is very difficult to reverse it", he concludes.
