May 12, 2023
A female Russian military officer attending an event in Iran without a head covering and wearing a short-sleeved shirt has triggered controversy.
The Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Pasdaran, published pictures of the woman March 16. They showed her at a press conference related to ongoing exercises held by the Iranian, Russian and Chinese navies in the Gulf of Oman.
Six months into nationwide protests demanding more freedoms and women’s rights, the Iranian authorities have not backed down on the requirement for women and girls to conceal their hair with a headscarf, or hejab, and to wear long-sleeved blouses.
As Western officials are expected to abide by the Islamic Republic’s dress code when visiting Iran, many Iranians have taken to social media to criticize the country’s authorities for applying a double standard.
“Do you have the courage to arrest this Russian officer who is not wearing a hejab? Isn’t this country Islamic? Aren’t there hejab laws in place? So why are you just standing idly by?” a Twitter user asked.
Some social media users recalled that Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in September 2022, had been arrested for allegedly not complying with the mandatory hejab laws.
“Instead of introducing new laws enforcing the hejab, you should have shown your religious honor” at the press conference with the Russian military, lawyer and political activist Muhammad Reza Safari wrote in a tweet.