As Radicals Dominate, Concern Grows About Governance In Iran

As a response to public outcry, Vahidi compared traffic control cameras, asserting that capturing images of those violating rules is a common and convenient method.

In April, Iran's police announced that new cameras were installed in public places and thoroughfares to identify and penalise unveiled women, another attempt to rein in the increasing number of women defying Iran's compulsory dress code.

Tehran’s prosecutor opened a case against the reformist Etemad newspaper on Sunday after it published an interior ministry document outlining the enforcement of hijab rules. The report provided details about the deployment of hijab enforcers at Tehran's subway stations and cited a directive issued by Vahidi to several government entities, including Tehran Municipality and the Metro Company.

The document, outlining steps for enforcing hijab rules in "government-controlled places," contradicted Vahidi's earlier denial of his ministry's involvement in the deployment of hijab enforcers at subway stations.

A state official responsible for promoting religious social standards, Mohammad-Hossein Taheri-Akerdi, said on Saturday that over 2,850 "revolutionary and jihadi forces" are voluntarily carrying out the religious duty of enforcing hijab.

Vahidi's directive, as disclosed in the document, grants authority to the police, the intelligence organization of the Revolutionary Guards (SAS), and the Ministry of Intelligence to photograph and film women defying hijab rules in public places, including subway stations and metro cars. The collected evidence will be used for prosecution and intimidation, aiming to enforce compliance with hijab regulations.

The official added that the attack left "no injuries or damages to infrastructure," noting that "This brings the total number of attacks (since mid-October) to 74 (36 in Iraq and 38 in Syria).”

Attacks on US troops in the region have intensified since Israel began its retaliatory offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack of 7 October, which killed 1,200. Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq and Syria have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Tehran denies any role, claiming that they are acting independently. However, the Islamic Republic calls these militant groups part of its axis of resistance against the United States and Israel. Almost every armed group that has targeted US forces in recent weeks is backed by or affiliated with the regime in Iran.

The American defense official added that he cannot speculate on future attacks, emphasizing that “Our forces in Iraq and Syria will stay focused on the mission we have at hand, which is preventing Daesh resurgence and advising, assisting and enabling our partner forces.”

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighboring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.

The official reiterated that US and Coalition forces “reserve the inherent right to self-defense.”

While Iran-backed groups have regularly attacked American bases in Iraq and Syria, injuring dozens, the Houthis in Yemen have seized a container ship and frequently launched missiles, including a ballistic missile last weekend that aimed at a US warship in the Gulf of Aden. The US has issued a warning to commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean.

The offer comes with the condition that Iran reins in its regional proxies, preventing them from escalating the ongoing conflict.

Arab and Western officials familiar with the matter revealed that Saudi Arabia has conveyed the proposal directly and through various channels following Hamas's invasion of Israel on October 7 and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.

The potential for increased collaboration was also discussed during a recent summit in Riyadh, where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman addressed the war.

Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia is working with its allies, including the United States, to prevent Iran from leveraging the conflict to strengthen its "axis of resistance," encompassing armed groups in Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

US Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf confirmed Washington's collaboration with Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies in addressing Tehran's involvement.

As of now, neither the Saudi Foreign Ministry nor the Saudi Embassy in Washington has issued an immediate response to requests for comment on the matter. The region remains on edge, with concerns that a broader war could ensue if Israel resumes its military campaign against Hamas after the current truce concludes.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has become the bloodiest conflict since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.

Speaking to Iran International about ways to empower women in Iran and other authoritarian states, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the Federal Minister of Education and Research and the Deputy Leader of the Free Democratic Party, praised the efforts by Afghan and Iranian women, pointing out that the fight for freedom is fostered by education, which is “the best way to make people independent.” 

Speaking on the sidelines of an event organized by the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation, an NGO that supports human rights activists through financial support, Stark-Watzinger told Iran International’s Ali Samadi that the first steps for supporting Iranian women would be supporting dissident figures and make the world see “how human rights and women’s rights are violated.”

“We always have to speak up against” such violations, she added, alongside Iranian opposition figure Masih Alinejad and several other activists and officials. 

Addressing Stark-Watzinger, Alinejad voiced appreciation for the German government, which she said has promised to back Iranian and Afghan women in their fight for freedom. 

On the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, whose death in morality police custody triggered a nationwide uprising, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pledged Berlin's solidarity with the people of Iran.

"Even if the protests have disappeared from the headlines, we will not leave the people of Iran on their own," she said. "We will place the fate of the people in Iran on the agenda in Brussels, New York and Geneva."

"As much as it breaks our hearts, we will be unable to change conditions in Iran from outside, but we will not hold back from giving the people in Iran a voice," Baerbock said at the time. Germany has also backed ongoing EU sanctions on Iran relating not only to its nuclear program but for its brutal suppression of protesters during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. Baerbock has repeatedly condemned Iranian authorities for human rights violations and is among the most vocal European leaders who speak out against Tehran’s treatment of women and protesters. 

Alinejad recognised the support, and said, “We believe that Iranian and Afghan women are fighting against a common enemy: gender apartheid".

During the event, the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation gave its courage award to Afghan women for their fight against the rule of Taliban, which has been intensifying restrictions on women’s education and social presence since it seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.

Referring to the award, Alinejad said that giving awards alone is not enough. “If you do not take practical steps to remove the Islamic Republic and the Taliban, they will eliminate you on German soil,” referring to assassination attempts she has so far evaded from regime security forces on foreign soil.  

A UN assessment of the women’s rights situation submitted to the 15-member Security Council in November read, "The basic rights of women and girls, including the right to education and to work, and representation in public and political life – are not only fundamental obligations of a state, but also critical to build state capacity for long-term development and economic growth and peace and security.

"Any formal re-integration of Afghanistan into global institutions and systems will require the participation and leadership of Afghan women.” 

Since the Taliban returned to power, most girls have been barred from high school and women from universities. The Taliban have also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian. 

In Iran, since last September's uprising, women have been under increasing oppression as they rebel against mandatory hijab. They have been banned from public spaces, education and faced fines and jail terms for shunning the state laws which has seen a nation rise up.

Karimi, who had been sentenced to death approximately 14 years ago, was transferred to solitary confinement a week before the execution. Amnesty International had issued warnings in recent days, highlighting the imminent danger of Karimi's execution and urging authorities to cancel the sentence. Despite the pleas, Karimi, along with six other prisoners whose identities remain undisclosed, was hanged Wednesday morning.

Notably, Karimi was denied a final meeting with his family before his execution, mirroring the fate of his co-defendant, Qasem Abasteh, who was executed on November 5.

The human rights organization Hengaw has identified five more religious prisoners facing imminent execution: Davoud Abdollahi, Farhad Salimi, Anwar Khezri, Khosrow Besharat, and Kamran Sheykha. All of them were arrested in 2009 and held in the intelligence ministry’s detention center in Urmia.

In 2015, they were tried and sentenced to death, a verdict confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2020 after prolonged legal battles. Despite a plea for retrial in September 2020, the Supreme Court rejected their request.

The charges against the prisoners include "War against God," "corruption on earth," "support for Salafi groups," and an alleged "murder". However, the accused individuals consistently denied any involvement in the allegations in letters published by human rights organizations.

The situation for minority rights in Iran remains precarious. In July alone, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that Iranian security forces detained at least 54 Kurdish activists and citizens in the western provinces of Iran.