This is the challenging moment a brave Iranian woman tears off a cleric’s turban and covers it after he scolded her for not wearing a hijab at an international airport in Tehran.
The video, posted on social media by Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, shows the unnamed woman yelling at the man at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.
After removing her white turban, she can be heard shouting over and over again: ‘What’s wrong with this?’
She was then seen chasing the man while shouting: ‘What’s wrong with this? Tell me!’
Alinejad said of the woman: ‘(She) confronted a cleric who harassed her for not wearing hijab.
‘In a bold act of defiance, she removed his turban and wore it as a headscarf, turning oppression into resistance.
‘For years, clerics have claimed that their turbans and robes are sacred and untouchable, but this woman’s act of protest shattered that myth. Iranian women are exhausted and enraged by gender apartheid.’
Iran has long been seen as a regressive nation when it comes to its attitudes and policies towards women.
The video, posted on social media by Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, shows the woman, as yet unnamed, yelling at the man at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.
Two Iranian women in November. Women in Iran could now face the death penalty or years behind bars if they break new moral laws.
The 2022 protests in Iran showing an unveiled woman standing on top of a car. Amnesty International has criticized new laws that say women could be sentenced to death for sending videos of themselves unveiled to media outlets outside the Islamic Republic.
Last month, new laws passed by Iran’s hardline parliament introduced harsh penalties for women in the name of promoting a “culture of chastity and hijab.”
These punishments are for those caught “promoting nudity, indecency, nudity or inappropriate dress” and could see Iranians receive fines of up to £12,500, caning and prison terms of up to 15 years for repeat offenders.
This includes women who are alleged to promote or propagate indecency, reveal or “poorly dress” to foreign entities, including international media and civil society organizations.
If Iranian authorities discover that the crime has amounted to “corruption on earth,” the accused could be sentenced to death under Article 296 of Iran’s Islamic penal code.
Amnesty International criticized the new laws, claiming that women could be sentenced to death for sending videos of themselves unveiled to media outlets outside the Islamic Republic.
The rights group said the law also appeared to grant immunity to anyone who wanted to fulfill their “religious duty” and impose mandatory headscarves on women.
Companies that do not enforce the laws will also be subject to harsh punishments or sanctions.
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East director, told The Guardian: “This shameful law intensifies the persecution of women and girls for daring to stand up for their rights in the wake of the Women, Life and Freedom uprising.”
“The authorities are trying to entrench the already suffocating system of repression against women and girls, while making their daily lives even more intolerable.”
The new laws also sparked outrage among Iranian activists and journalists.
Iranian human rights lawyers like Saeid Dehghan went so far as to claim that it violates Article 9 of the Iranian constitution, which prohibits legislation that undermines citizens’ freedoms even in the name of national sovereignty.