Iran Cyber-Police Threatens Beauty Salons, Gyms Over Hijab

Publishing the picture of his summons on Twitter, this former representative wrote that he should go to the seventh branch of the Security Prosecutor's Office located in Evin prison in Tehran on May 23.

There is no accusation mentioned in the notice, but it is stated that the former reformist MP will be arrested if he does not show up.

Sadeghi is an Iranian lawyer, jurist, and academic who was a member of the parliament representing Tehran from May 2016 to May 2020.

Sadeghi is an associate professor at the Tarbiat Modares University and his field of expertise is Private law.

In 2016, he appeared before the special court for culture and media in Tehran to answer questions about his comments on possible corruption among senior officials. He was released after posting a bond, but later he was sentenced to 21 months of discretionary custodial imprisonment.

Sadeghi has been summoned several times since 2016, but refused to appear before the court, citing his legislative immunity. Judicial authorities attempted to arrest Sadeghi at his home in Tehran at the time with an arrest warrant based on a plaintiffs’ case against him.

He was heading a new faction in parliament which was charged with helping ensure “transparency and purification of the economy.”

His remarks on the personal bank accounts of the judiciary chief put him in trouble. Sadeghi asked the justice minister to explain the reason behind the alleged transfer of public funds to the personal accounts of the then Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani.

However, the head of Medical Council, Mohammad Rais-Zadeh, said Sunday that no hijab-related case has been sent to the council so far.

The ruling follows reports of a doctor refusing to accept a veiled patient in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

In February, a medical office in the northeastern Iranian city of Kashmar was shut when a doctor there objected to a woman harassing a patient over her “improper clothing”.

Earlier in February, Iran’s Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said violation of hijab regulations is considered a crime at hospitals and if they do not abide by hijab regulations, they will not receive approval to operate. He added that public hospitals have been required to comply with the hijab law and provide services to women by female staff.

“Women's ultrasound should be performed by women, and in some cases that we do not have enough radiologists, we ask female general practitioners and gynecologists to be given short-term training,” underlined the minister.

The clerical regime continues to strictly enforce the "mandatory hijab", despite the mass protests that followed the death in custody last September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the morality police for defying modesty rules.

About a month before the death of Mahsa Amini, the so-called morality police had started patrolling medical and academic centers in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad to enforce compliance with the Islamic dress code. Social media users earlier reported the presence of teams from what the Islamic Republic calls the ‘Enjoining right and forbidding vice headquarters’ in various wards of hospitals and medical centers in other cities, with some reports of pressures on hospitals to separate male and female patients admitted to the ICU.

The uprising has made it increasingly difficult for the clerical regime to enforce the mandatory Islamic dress code. Appearing in public without a full veil has become a common sight even in small and more conservative towns. Since the beginning of the ‘Women, Life, Liberty’ movement in September last year, thousands of girls and women have set fire to their headscarves in a symbolic move and voiced opposition to compulsory hijab.

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Rais-Zadeh also voiced his concern over the low income of doctors and surgeons, saying current wages mean no one would study for many years to qualify.

Iran’s medical profession is facing a crisis as more and more doctors leave the country for better wages and working conditions.

Driven by economic and professional problems, as well as lack of social and political freedoms, an increasing number of Iran's healthcare professionals emigrate.

There are no transparent data on the emigration of healthcare and other professionals, but medical officials and lawmakers often offer fragmentary information on the scope of the problem. The number of doctors emigrating has more than doubled in the past decade, according to one report.

Thousands of physicians, dentists, midwives, and nurses have either emigrated in the past few years or are planning to leave for other countries. Many in Iran, including lawmakers, have repeatedly warned that the ever-increasing desire of healthcare professionals to leave will result in the deterioration of the country’s healthcare system.

In February, Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, a member of the central council of Iran's Nurses’ Organization, said between 2,500 to 3,000 nurses were emigrating from Iran each year, based on the number of requests for good standing certificates, confirming that the applicant is entitled to practice medicine in the country.

The average salary for a doctor in Iran is about $400 per month, against ten as much or more in the US and UK. Physicians and other health professionals’ maximum fees as well as private hospitals’ tariffs are set and announced by the government annually.

Mohammad-Ali Mohseni-Bandpey, a member of the parliament health committee, said last year that wrong government policies affecting doctors included ignoring their needs and demands and refusing to allow them to raise their fees despite higher costs of living and running their practices. According to Mohseni-Bandpey, despite an almost 50 percent annual inflation rate, the government is trying to prevent a similar increase in doctors’ fees, to keep healthcare costs down. He suggested that the government should allow them to increase their fees but shift the burden to insurance companies rather than patients.

Doctors in Iran must also contend with a lack of adequate medical equipment and resources.

With fewer doctors available to provide care, the quality of medical care in Iran is declining, especially in rural areas, where access is already limited.

Moreover, medical schools are struggling to attract and retain students, leaving the future of the medical profession in Iran in doubt.

A major investment in the healthcare system, as well as increased funding for medical schools and hospitals is required to salvage the situation and stop the flood of emigrating doctors. However, Iran’s dire financial plight means such investment is impossible for the foreseeable future.

Protestors gathered overnight outside the prison in Esfahan (Isfahan) where Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashmi, and Saeed Yaqoubi await their death sentence, having been found guilty in a trial condemned as a travesty of justice by human rights campaigners.

They were convicted over the death of two IRGC’s Basij militia members and a police officer in protests of November last year, in what Persian media have dubbed the ‘Isfahan House’ case.

Responding to social media calls on Sunday night, people gathered outside Esfahan (Isfahan) Central Prison hoping to stop the executions. Videos posted by activists show dozens chanting slogans in front of the prison, while gunfire was also heard as thick smoke caused by teargas enveloped the area.

Following the increase in the executions of prisoners in recent weeks, families of those sentenced to death held a protest rally outside the Judiciary’s office in Tehran’s Keshavarz Street on Monday, demanding an end to the killing.

A similar rally was held last week outside Iran’s largest prison in Karaj hoping for mercy by the regime but by sunrise the prisoners were hanged. 

Opposition activists say the death penalty is being used against the Isfahan House three as an intimidation tactic to stop further protests. 

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Campaigners say the prisoners were tortured into confessions, and there is no reliable evidence against them. According to an audio file released on Sunday of Kazemi talking to his cousin, he was coerced into confession by threats to his family of rape and death.

Exiled prince Reza Pahlavi tweeted on Sunday night, saying, “We must not allow this murderous regime to take another innocent life and turn another mother into a mourner.”

Prominent activist Masih Alinejad said: “We should not allow the regime of crime and madness to take more young people from us and make more families grieving.”

Canada-based dissident figure Hamed Esmaeilion, whose daughter and wife were killed in the shooting down of Flight PS752 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in 2020, tweeted, “When will the insanity stop? When will the free world stand behind its own values? How many more executions will it take for the world to stand up?”

Last week, Australian Senator Jordon Steele-John, a political sponsor of Majid Kazemi called on the Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong “to have an urgent meeting with her Iranian counterpart to do all they can to prevent the execution of Majid, which could happen at any moment”.

Iranian expatriate communities plan demonstrations against the executions in cities worldwide on Saturday, May 20.

Iran has always had a high number of executions but the number started to rise after President Ebrahim Raisi – the former head of the country’s notorious judiciary -- took office in August 2021.

The United Nations said last week that Iran has executed 209 people so far this year, calling the record "abominable".

Videos posted by activists show dozens chanting slogans in front of the Isfahan Central Prison, while gunfire was also heard. The clips also show thick smoke caused by tear gas.

Iranian authorities intend to execute Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashmi, and Saeed Yaqoubi.

The three detainees received the death penalty in connection with an armed attack on November 16on “Isfahan House” neighborhood last year.

The Iranian authorities claim that two members of the security forces and a police officer were killed by protesters.

Campaigners say the three men were tortured into confessions, and there is no reliable evidence against them.

Amnesty International on Saturday spoke of its fears for the fate of the three detainees.

The international human rights organisation said: “Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi are at imminent risk of execution at central Isfahan prison (also known as Dastgerd prison) after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld their unjust convictions and death sentences in early May 2023.”

After a wave of nationwide anti-government protests last year which has still yet to subside, the Iranian regime has embarked on a wave of executions which has seen dozens of prisoners hanged this year.

The regime used overwhelming force with military weapons in its crackdown on the protests, killing more than 500 civilians. Hundreds of other protestors suffered permanent injuries, including the loss of eyes when shotgun pellets were fired at the faces of demonstrators. More than 20,000 people were arrested.

Iran International has learned that summoning lawyers to the Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran, which started in March, resumed last week after a pause due to the relocation of the prosecutor in charge.

The judiciary’s intelligence organization, sources in Iran said, is behind the prosecution of these lawyers most of whom had expressed their support for the Women, Life, Freedom movement on social media.

The case involves 170 lawyers of whom, sources told Iran International, 27 individuals from different parts of the country have already been summoned by the Evin prison prosecutor on charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion with the intention of acting against [national] security”.

Iran International has also learned that lawyers who were summoned were forced to sign a pledge that implies acceptance of the charges. One of the two lawyers who refused to sign the pledge was detained for a few hours and another one for a few days.

UK-based lawyer and women’s rights activist Samaneh Savadi told Iran International that the regime is taking revenge on lawyers, many among whom volunteered to represent protesters. She said that the attorneys are being punished “for standing beside the people”.

Ali Mojtahedzadeh, one of the summoned lawyers, told Etemad newspaper Sunday that most of these lawyers had participated in the protests or voiced support on social media. He said he and some of his colleagues had received the letter to present themselves to the prosecutor in the past few days.

He pointed out that the cases against most of these lawyers were dropped following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s “amnesty”, but now new charges have been brought against them.

In February, Khamenei agreed to a proposal by Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei to pardon some prisoners and reduce sentences for those arrested during antigovernment protests last year. The move appeared to be designed to show clemency after hundreds were killed and around 20,000 arrested, and to rescue the image of the regime amid a grim economic crisis and mass public rejection of Khamenei’s rule.

Another lawyer, Mitra Izadifar, told Etemad that she is being prosecuted again, after being pardoned earlier. She added that she has been summoned to Tehran although she lives and practices in Mashhad.

Mohammad-Hadi Jafarpour who practices law in Shiraz also told Etemad “I was once arrested on November 2 on charges of ‘propaganda against the regime’ and ‘assembly and collusion with the intention of acting against [national] security. At the time, I was mostly questioned by prosecutors about my media commentaries, [Instagram] posts, and tweets… I had to sign a pledge in order to be pardoned [by Khamenei].”

He added that he has also been summoned to Tehran by the Evin prosecutor although despite a legal requirement that says he should be prosecuted in his own city. Jafarpour pointed out that the summons letter he received did not mention the charges.

Earlier in March a Revolutionary court permanently deprived prominent lawyer Nemat Ahmadi, a member of the Union Internationale des Avocats or International Association of Lawyers, from practicing law in Iran.

Ahmadi, a former professor of law sacked from Azad University for his political activities and representing political prisoners, was sued by the intelligence ministry for the same reason.

Dissidents and protesters are often deprived of their right to choose their own lawyers and must accept defense attorneys the judiciary appoints from a government-trusted list.