Hijab is the law: Iran President

TDT | Agencies                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Two women attacked by a man for not wearing hijab in Iran have opened another war front in the country, with President Ebrahim Raisi also coming out to say that hijab was the law in Iran.

His remarks came soon after a widely shared video footage appeared to show a man pouring a bucket of what appears to be yoghurt on the two women’s heads before he is confronted by the shopkeeper.

The incident comes amid nationwide protests that followed the death in September of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.

Authorities later issued an arrest warrant against the man “on charges of committing an insulting act and disturbance of order”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

But it added arrest warrants were also issued for the two women for “committing a forbidden act” by removing their headscarves.

“Necessary notices have been issued to the owner of the shop where this happened in order to comply with legal and Sharia principles according to the regulations,” it added. Meanwhile, in live remarks on state television, Raisi said: “If some people say they don’t believe (in the hijab)... it’s good to use persuasion ... But the important point is that there is a legal requirement ... and the hijab is today a legal matter.”

Authorities said the owner of the dairy shop, who confronted the attacker, had been warned.

Reports on social media showed his shop had been shut, although he was quoted by a local news agency as saying he had been allowed to reopen and was due to “give explanations” to a court.