An Iranian woman got into a heated argument with a cleric who clicked her pictures because she was not wearing the hijab. The woman’s argument with the cleric was recorded and shared on social media, after which it went viral.
The video was filmed at a Qom clinic where the woman had come with her baby. She was upset when she noticed her pictures being clicked because she was not wearing the hijab and asked the cleric to delete the images.
However, the cleric refused to accept her request after which the two got involved in an ugly spat.
Today’s images from Iran show a cleric engaging in a confrontation with an unveiled woman at a clinic in Qom while filming her.
According to these images, the young woman, who arrived at the clinic with her baby, becomes upset upon noticing the filming and asks the cleric to… pic.twitter.com/Y7owgqY7lH
— Ellie Omidvari (@ElhamOmidvari) March 9, 2024
In Iran, wearing the head scarf in public places has been compulsory for women since the 1979 revolution.
Iran arrests four people in connection with video
After the video of the scuffle went viral, four people were arrested by Iran on suspicion of handing over the video to a foreign-based broadcaster.
The footage of the argument in Iran’s Shiite clerical centre of Qom was also aired on the London-based news channel Iran International, which the Iran government sees as an “enemy media” outlet.
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Ruhollah Moslemhkani, deputy prosecutor of Qom, Ruhollah Moslemhkani, said that four of the “main publishers and senders” of the video to the “enemy (Iran) International network” were arrested, as reported by the Fars news agency.
“What is clear to us, and we are sure of, is a design and planning had been made to create division and sedition in the society,” he said.
The mandatory dress code has remained controversial in Iran since Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in September 2022 after she was arrested for an alleged breach.
Her death led to nationwide protests which the government authorities claimed took place because of incitement by foreign-based Farsi-language media and the Western governments.
(With inputs from agencies)
