Hard-line clerics are gearing up for a fight over how to reverse the trend of "badly veiled women" whose loose or self-styled interpretations of Islamic dress have been deemed improper by authorities.
Their target, believe it or not, is none other than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ultraconservative firebrand.
In a televised interview last week, Ahmadinejad suggested a "cultural campaign" against unsatisfactory veiling rather than the humiliating, unpopular and high-profile police crackdown currently underway.
His comments came weeks after law enforcement agencies stepped up efforts to curb what many within the regime see as a growing threat to the ruling ideology. Babylon & Beyond reported on morality police stopping cars and shutting down stores that sell clothing considered immodest.
But the gray-bearded, self-appointed guardians of public morality struck back during Friday prayers. Guardian Council chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshipers during his sermon that to stay silent on the issue of improper hijab, or veil, amounts to a mortal sin, likening gals with hair peeking out from under their scarves to hardened criminals.
Person | About | Day |
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نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
"Good cop, Bad cop" is exactly right
by Irani Irani on Fri Jun 18, 2010 09:43 PM PDTThis is also a recurring theme among the "hardline" IRi supporters on this website, that Ahmadinejad is a "savior of the people" against the clerics. "Yeah, right." says it perfectly, Shifteh.