Iran rules out change in hijab dress code despite foreign 'plots'

Iran's Interior Ministry says the country will not withdraw from the Islamic rule of hijab, pointing to enemies' "failed plots" to use hijab to separate the nation from the government.

In a statement on Thursday night, the ministry named hijab an "unquestionable" Islamic necessity and stressed that efforts to preserve and implement it in society will continue.

"No withdrawal has been and will be made from religious principles and traditional values. Hijab, as an unquestionable religious necessity, will always remain one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran," read the statement.

The issue of hijab has been one of the fronts of enemy's "cognitive warfare" against the Iranian nation, however, its failed plots in the past several years could not "drain the will" of Iranian women and girls for maintaining their Muslim identity, it added.

"The planned projects of spy agencies" led from outside the country tried in their latest attempt to "hide their evil aims under the demagogic slogan of 'women life freedom'," however, the vigilance of Iranian people, especially women and girls, proved that the enemy suffers from "miscalculations" about the depth of people's beliefs to their religion, said the statement.  

The ministry was referring to recent Western-supported violent riots across Iran that erupted in September 2022 following the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini in a hospital in Tehran, three days after he fainted at a police station in the Iranian capital.

"In the past year's riots, the enemies tried to use hijab to polarize the society, create deep social divisions, and separate the nation from the government," read the statement, adding that "all capacities of foreign-based social media" were used as the field for this battle.

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Hijab, as a factor for strengthening the institute of family, should be protected and promoted,the statement added.

The ministry also called on religious scholars as well as cultural and social bodies to further explain the sensitive issue of hijab, noting that persuading the new generation is the "most influential" approach for improving hijab.

The statement comes months after the issue of hijab was used by some Western countries to spark riots in Iran. Iran’s intelligence community has said several countries, including the United States and the UK, have used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country.

Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property. Dozens of people and security personnel were killed in the riots.

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