Killings of Women Surge in Iran: 23 Killed by Male Relatives

The footage, obtained by Iran International, shows the police's harsh enforcement of mandatory hijab. According to an eyewitness, bystanders eventually intervened and rescued the girl. It is unclear how old the child is, but in Iran girls start to wear hijab as young as six or seven years old.

The incident is part of a pattern of aggression associated with hijab enforcement in Iran even against children. Just last year, another young girl was recorded being struck in the face for not wearing a hijab. The video showed her bleeding from the nose, sitting by the roadside in distress.

In September 2022, the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, arrested for not wearing her hijab properly, triggered a nationwide uprising which has since seen tens of thousands of women reject the mandatory hijab.

In October, 16-year-old high school student Armita Geravand fell into a coma and later died due to a head injury after an altercation with hijab enforcers in the Tehran subway. Details of the incident remain obscured, but reports suggest she was pushed by a female agent.

The Iranian regime last month ramped up its enforcement of hijab laws under what it claims is a "national and public demand," introducing a new initiative called the Noor plan. This has led to an increase in hijab police presence, especially in central Tehran, with more patrols, vans, and motorcycle units in operation.

The United Nations branded Iran's crackdown on hijab and oppression of women 'gender apartheid' and rights groups continue to fight for women's rights in the country where women are being violently oppressed amid toughening laws.

According to the Farhikhtegan newspaper, the targeted properties include the offices of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's representatives, Iran state television, and buildings of the Al-Mustafa International University, among others.

The Al-Mustafa University, operating under the Islamic Propaganda Bureau of the Qom Seminary, functions as a state-funded, university-style Shia seminary with branches in nearly 60 countries. Al-Mustafa has emerged as Iran’s primary instrument for promoting Shi'ism internationally.

The newspaper also criticized Azerbaijan's recent acquisition of a property in Tehran's upscale Pasdaran district, a building spanning over three thousand square meters and valued at around $20 million.

The move, described as a result of Baku's lobbying efforts following an embassy attack, has been labeled "completely meaningless" by the newspaper as “Azerbaijan continues to seal and aims to confiscate Iranian properties.”

The publication claims the properties are “diplomatic sites” and there are no legal proceedings in Azerbaijan that justify their confiscation.

The accusation comes amid a backdrop of extensive Iranian activities in Azerbaijan Republic, including offering free education to Azerbaijani seminary students, promoting Shiism, and funding various cultural and religious activities aimed at bolstering Iran's influence in the region.

The situation underscores a long-standing effort by the Islamic Republic to wield religious and geopolitical influence in Azerbaijan, particularly following the latter's independence.

The Azerbaijan Islamic Party, established post-independence in 1991 with Iran's support to export the Islamic Revolution, was dissolved four years later, accused of attempting to overthrow the government and transform the country into an Islamic republic.

Relations with the two countries were put under further strain when Azerbaijan recently opened an embassy in Israel, Iran's archenemy. Just last year, an Iranian-backed attack was foiled on Israel's embassy in Baku. 

Bankipour outlined that under the new law, police would have the authority to arrest individuals in five scenarios: “semi-nudity, affiliation with foreign movements, resistance after being cautioned, and foreigners lacking proper documentation.”

The proposed amendment targeting hijab offenders is part of the contentious Hijab and Chastity Bill which Parliament passed in June 2023. However, the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, rejected the bill in October, citing unclear language, and returned it to parliament for revision and clarification.

Following the backlash from the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, who died in custody after being arrested for "improper hijab," hardliners are seeking new methods to enforce hijab regulations. The incident ignited the extensive Woman, Life, Freedom protests across the nation, deeply challenging the Iranian regime. The protests led to the deaths of over 550 civilians and the arrest of approximately 22,000 by security forces.

Despite the enforcement attempts, significant resistance persists among Iranian women, who continue to defy the mandatory hijab in public spaces like streets, shops, malls, restaurants, and government buildings in the biggest challenge to the regime since the founding of the Islamic Republic.

The poster, at Valiasar Square in Tehran for Iran's National Girl's Day, depicts a girl sweeping the house, feeding a baby, massaging her father, and helping her brother, titled "The light of the eye," a term of endearment in Farsi.

It comes while there has been a new wave of crackdowns to compel women to comply with compulsory hijab laws under a new initiative called the "Noor [light] Initiative." A user on the X social network wrote, "The irony of the Noor Initiative patrol vans being parked under the same billboard to arrest the ‘the light of the eye'."

The juxtapositioning of the poster has fueled the anger, the area in front of the billboard mainly used as a parking space for morality police vans to enforce hijab on women passing by in Valiasr, one of the capital's main squares.

Since the launch of Noor, social media has been flooded with videos of morality police violence against women rebelling against the hijab. There have also been allegations of police officers extorting money from women in exchange for leniency, as well as accusations of theft and sexual harassment.

Several social media users have written that the girl "The light of the eye" is introduced in this banner. Still, if the same girl, "showing a bit of hair," sets foot outside the house, "she will become a thorn in the eye of the regime and will be taken into those vans at the bottom of the picture."

Some users shared pictures of women killed during the 2022 Woman Life Freedom movement, such as Mahsa Amini, Nika Shakarami, Sarina Alizadeh, and Hadis Najafi. They said that the government of the Islamic Republic is celebrating the day of the girls while "for no other reason than their hair, they torture, rape and kill them." ‌

The death of 22-year-old Amini in morality police custody sparked the months-long nationwide protests. During the movement, regime forces killed around 550 protesters, injured hundreds, and arrested over 22,000 people.

Many progressive Iranians criticized the outdated portrayal of women in a country in which women have fought for their right to education. “Couldn't you show a girl playing sports, studying, having fun, or hanging out with her family?”

Between 2011 and 2022, women outnumbered men on Iran's college and university campuses, yet women in the labor force accounted for only 19 percent in 2020. The government has made “systematic efforts to limit women’s access to the workplace,” according to a 2021 State Department report. The women who are employed reportedly earn 41 percent less than men for the same work.

Iranian leaders have stated numerous times that the primary function of women in society is to bear children, raise children, take care of the household, and serve their husbands.

The wife of Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, said it is an example of violence when women study and work like men in an interview with Venezuelan state TV. Jamileh Alamolhoda claimed, "We want women to remain women. Why should we be like men? Why should we study, work or live like men? This is a form of violence". She has continued to call the murder of Mahsa Amini “fake media hype".

During a meeting with women in December, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated his views that holding a job shouldn't prevent women from carrying out their “actual duties.” “There is, however, a crucial requirement that women won’t be ‘deprived’ of that important and fundamental ‘feminine task’, housekeeping and childbearing,” Khamenei said.

Just months ago, the United Nations branded Iran's new laws on hijab 'gender apartheid' and rights groups such as Amnesty International have slammed the regime's ongoing gender-based oppression and violence.

Zibakalam recently published a book titled "Why Don't They Arrest You and What Happens in the End?". His arrest came as he was scheduled to attend the book launch event at the Tehran International Book Fair on Sunday.

Zibakalam, a former University of Tehran professor and a figure often described as reformist and neo-liberal, has been a vocal critic of the Iranian government, frequently appearing on international media platforms such as BBC News and Al Jazeera. He has been especially critical of Iran’s nuclear program and has previously acknowledged the State of Israel, citing its recognition by the United Nations, which led to charges of "weakening the system."

His legal troubles include an 18-month prison sentence and a two-year prohibition from participating in political activities online and with various groups due to allegations of “conducting propaganda against the state.”

Another case that led to a one-year prison sentence involved the dissemination of what the authorities deemed “undocumented and false content.” Additionally, a third case, confirmed by the Supreme Court, sentenced him to six months in prison for similar charges.

The legal actions followed a series of statements by Zibakalam, including remarks made during an interview with Voice of America's Persian television. In the interview, he argued that Israel should not be blamed for the January bombing in Kerman, as it typically targets specific individuals and "does not attack innocent people."

On January 3, a memorial service at the grave of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in eastern Kerman, was rocked by two bomb explosions. The attacks resulted in the deaths of over 100 people and left more than 280 others injured.