Four people were arrested in Iran for broadcasting a video, which went viral, of a heated altercation between a Shiite cleric and a woman not wearing the obligatory veil, local media announced on Tuesday.
Four people were arrested in Iran for broadcasting a video, which went viral, of a heated altercation between a Shiite cleric and a woman not wearing the obligatory veil, local media announced on Tuesday. Those arrested are suspected of having sent images filmed by surveillance cameras of the dispute that occurred last week in a medical center in the conservative city of Qom (center).
They show a woman criticizing a member of the clergy for taking a photo of her with his cell phone while she waited in a corridor. He photographed her because she was not wearing the Muslim veil, obligatory in public in Iran, the Fars agency reported. Tension rose in the medical center where people intervened to separate the young woman and the religious man, who ended up fleeing, according to the images.
Campaign against the “clerical institution”
The Fars agency indicated that the courts were accusing the four people arrested of having allowed the broadcast of the video by Iran International, a news channel based in London and considered “enemy media” by the Iranian authorities. The images were then shared on social media, sparking intense controversy in Iran.
The conservative daily Kayhan claimed that opponents in Iran and the diaspora had launched a campaign against the Shiite “clerical institution” with the broadcast of this video. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday that the government supported those calling on women to observe the hijab.
In recent months, more and more women have appeared without veils in public places, particularly after the protest movement triggered by the death in detention in September 2022 of Mahsa Amini, arrested for violating the strict dress code.