More Iranian women join protest against forced hijab code

On Saturday, a video of a young woman taking off her hijab in Iran in front of a Basij base (Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Morality Police) emerged.

This event comes nearly two weeks after the first Iranian woman who took off her hijab in protest of the forced dress code .

The woman, 31-year-old Wida Mowahed, a mother of a 19-month-old daughter, stood in the middle of Tehran’s “Inqlab” (revolution) street raising her scarf on a stick and waving it like a flag.

A video of the protest was widely shared three days before the outbreak of the popular protests in Tehran on December 27. Mowahed was shortly arrested after her protest, but was reportedly released following an outcry from human rights activists.

Her courage prompted other women, old and young, to fight for their right.

Another recent video showed an elderly woman, barely capable of walking, also protesting against the forced dress code in hopes of change.

Meanwhile, Tehran police have arrested 29 women for appearing in public without a headscarf as protests against the dress code in force since the Islamic revolution of 1979 intensify, Iranian media reported on Friday.

Those arrested were accused of public order offences and referred to the state prosecutor's office, the Fars, ILNA and Tasnim news agencies reported without elaborating.

Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had played down the escalating protests on Wednesday, saying they were “trivial” and “childish” moves, possibly incited by foreigners.

With AFP.