The ancient history books tell us that the first-century Roman emperor Nero may have deliberately set fire to Rome, which was groaning under bad management and political intrigue, so it would serve as a backdrop to a theatrical performance. While that was obviously a very different time and place, today’s Islamic Republic of Iran under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei bears striking resemblances to the ancient metropolis. Iran today has seemingly become a large theater for performative actions by Khamenei himself as well as other leaders—political, military and religious—who appear as actors playing parts that bear no relationship to the harsh and unpleasant lives that most citizens endure.
As attested by many economists, recent memory serves up no examples of a situation worse than today as far as the average Iranian’s livelihood is concerned. The national currency has never had less value than it does now, and prices for basic necessities like food have climbed to record highs. Some have suggested a causal relationship between rising poverty and an uptick in criminal activity. As PersuMedia analysts have noted, petty larceny is on the increase, but there are indications that we may be witnessing more brazen crimes, such as the recent mugging of a motorist in broad daylight by a gang on motorcycles. A social media user has published a doctored version of the crime scene, turning the muggers into hijabless blonde women, one of them in short shorts, and commenting sardonically that perhaps this version of the picture will prompt authorities to act more quickly. The implication is obvious: the authorities care more about appearing Islamically “pure” than promoting the safety and happiness of citizens. Reformist cleric Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, himself the recent victim of a violent mugging, tweeted that the people of Tehran are feeling increasingly unsafe and the restoration of law and order is far more important than hijab enforcement. Attorney at law Ali Mojtahedzadeh bemoans the plight of Iranian policemen, who are murdered in lawless parts of the country like Sistan and Baluchestan by terrorists while their brethren are engaged in the thankless job of enforcing hijab on unwilling citizens. What does law enforcement say about this? A formal statement from police command to the public makes no reference to rising crime, only that the guardians of law and order will deal harshly with hijab violations.
The impetus for this comes from the very top. Khamenei has taken to reiterating the need for strict conformity to Islamic dictates even by those who are not religiously motivated. Without any explicit reference to hijab in his latest speech, he nonetheless denounced the violation of Islamic norms and reminded those responsible for commanding the good and prohibiting the evil that they had a job to do. As if on cue, the hardline Fars News, which is affiliated with the IRGC, launched a supposedly “popular” campaign to demand a return of the notorious morality police to the streets. As expected, other public officials are quickly falling into line. Perfectly in sync with Khamenei, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, equated disregard for hijab with providing aid and comfort to the “enemy.” Hardline MP and cleric Musa Ghazanfarabadi, who chairs the Majles legal affairs committee, says only one or two objections from the Guardian Council remain to the Majles legislation on hijab, and he anticipates they will be addressed very soon. Even outgoing MP Mehdi Baqeri, who no longer has skin in the legislative game whether on hijab or anything else, seems eager for implementation, threatening hijab violators with seizure of their passports and even jail time.
