Iran judiciary says women will be punished for flouting Islamic dress code

The hardline Iranian judiciary warned that women who violate the Islamic Republic’s dress code would be punished. The warning comes amidst the ongoing anti-government protests that have been taking place for months.

The official IRNA news outlet reported on Monday the warning by judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei that reaffirmed the law that women must adhere to the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Ejei’s warning comes at a time when the country is experiencing unrest over the death of Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.

“Removing one’s hijab is equivalent to showing enmity to the Islamic Republic and its values. People who engage in such an abnormal act will be punished,” said Ejei. “With the help of the judiciary and the executive, authorities will use all available means to deal with the people who cooperate with the enemy and commit this sin that harms public order.”

Amini died in the custody of the morality police in September, days after she was arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code on women, resulting in public outrage and prompting many to take to the streets to call for the fall of the Islamic Republic and its clerical leaders. The ongoing protests marked the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical rule since the 1979 Revolution.

Tehran has blamed its foreign adversaries like the United States and Israel for the unrest, with its security forces engaging in a tough crackdown that killed dozens. Four people have also been executed by the judiciary on protest-related charges.

Aside from the protests, Iran has also come under scrutiny over the stalled talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and the alleged supply of drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.

Also on Monday, Iran said it was open to a prisoner swap with Belgium after the Belgian Constitutional Court upheld a prisoner exchange treaty in a case that could see a convicted Iranian diplomat exchanged for a Belgian aid worker detained in Iran.

Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested during a visit to Iran in February last year and, in January, was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashings on charges of espionage. Brussels said the move was in retaliation for a 20-year prison sentence given to an Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi in 2021 over a thwarted bombing plot.