Record Fines Levied In Iran For Hijab Violations
A member of the Iranian parliament’s cultural commission announced a substantial fine of 240 million rials for the violation of the hijab in Iran, a record high.
A member of the Iranian parliament’s cultural commission announced a substantial fine of 240 million rials for the violation of the hijab in Iran, a record high.
Amir-Hossein Bankipour said, “a fine of 30 million rials for the first-time violation” will be in place, however, the gravity of the penalty is amplified for the second offense, as people “must now face court proceedings, with a penalty of 240 million rials.”
Bankipour's statements have drawn attention to the significant sum, equivalent to over two months' wages, nearly 500 US dollars, in Iran. The controversial proposal has ignited discussions about the severity of the penalties and their potential economic implications on women.
The legislator revealed that there were differing opinions during the bill's formulation, with some suggesting the immediate referral of individuals without a hijab to court, a proposal rejected by the Judiciary Commission. Bankipour emphasized that, “for minor offenses such as a woman not observing the hijab in public, the approved provision stipulates a fine instead of a direct court appearance.”
The bill, officially titled "Protection of Family Through Promotion of Hijab and Chastity Culture," initially secured parliamentary approval in September. However, it encountered an unexpected setback when the Guardian Council, holding ultimate legislative authority, rejected it. The rejection cited formal deficiencies and called for revisions to clarify ambiguous terms.
The development occurs against the backdrop of protests triggered by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Mass hijab rebellion has swept the country with increasing surveillance and crackdowns failing to stem the tide.
Albright, the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, DC, wrote “The unfortunate reality is that Iran already knows how to build nuclear weapons, although there are some unfinished tasks related to the actual construction of them.”
He asked “If the regime’s leadership decided to build them, how would it proceed? How long would it take?”
According to Albright, “The long pole in the tent of building nuclear weapons is essentially complete. Iran can quickly make enough weapon-grade uranium for many nuclear weapons, something it could not do in 2003. Today, it would need only about a week to produce enough for its first nuclear weapon. It could have enough weapon-grade uranium for six weapons in one month, and after five months of producing weapon-grade uranium, it could have enough for twelve.”
Albright, who worked as a weapons inspector for the United Nations in Iraq, titled his article: How quickly could Iran make nuclear weapons today?
An Iranian American expert on the Islamic Republic, Lisa Daftari, told Iran International, “It’s no surprise that Iran’s regime is closer than ever to a nuclear weapon, given that we have known their desire to work constantly in its pursuit, particularly over the last three years. As the Biden administration has made major concessions in tone and policy, Tehran understood there would be minimal to no consequences to its actions. To that end, the mullahs continued spinning the centrifuges and working on possessing vital components of their weapons program. “
Daftari, who is the editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, added “They also continued with other bad behaviors including the funding of regional terror proxies and carrying out wholesale-style executions at home. At this point, it is impossible for the West to reign in or deliver any message of deterrence, whether by targeted responses to the Houthi provocations or in pursuing a meaningless nuclear deal meant to curb further progress on their weapons program. “
The clerical regime’s fast moving nuclear weapons program coincides with its increased adventurism in the region, including arming the Houthis to attack vessels in the key Red Sea commercial passageway. Iran’s regime launched missile and drone strikes into Pakistan, Iraq and Syria on January 15 and 16.
Rich Goldberg, who served on President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, told Iran International “This administration has allowed Iran to run the ball all the way down the nuclear field to a point where our options have narrowed. We need to restore a strategy of pressure and deterrence to counter Iran’s wide-ranging threats while preparing military contingencies to deal specifically with the nuclear threat.”
In December, at the UN Security Council, the UK, France and Germany said they “remain determined that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon and must reverse its nuclear escalation.”
The UN’s atomic weapons watchdog agency IAEA raised alarm bells about Iran’s illicit enrichment of uranium in December. The IAEA said Tehran Iran rolled back a months-long slowdown in the rate at which it is enriching uranium to up to 60-percent purity, close to the roughly 90-percent weapons grade uranium.
In late December, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nicolas de Rivière, told Iran International “The level of threat has increased a lot so it's time for Iran to get back to compliance and the IAEA reported on that on December 26, again, and documented the violations. So of course, we are extremely concerned.”
Alireza Nader, an expert on Iran, urged the Biden administration to help breathe life and fire into the protest movement against the existence of the clerical regime. He told Iran International, “The best thing the US can do is to support the struggle for democracy in Iran through maximum pressure on the regime and maximum support for the Iranian people.”