Iranian women arrested for not wearing hijab after yogurt thrown on them
By Sahar Akbarzai, CNN
Two women in Iran were arrested after a man threw yogurt on them for not wearing the hijab at a store in the northeastern city of Shandiz, according to a video and report published by the Mizan News Agency, the state-run media for Iran’s judiciary.
Video of Thursday’s incident shows a man approaching one of the women who is unveiled and speaking to her before proceeding to grab a tub of yogurt from the store and throwing it, hitting both women in the head.
Iranian women risk arrest for not covering their hair. Many have been defying the mandatory dress code as part of protests that followed the death of a young woman in custody who allegedly violated hijab rules.
The video appears to show a male staff member removing the suspect from the store. CNN is not able to verify what was said immediately before the confrontation.
The two women were arrested after being issued an arrest warrant for failing to wear the hijab in public, according to Mizan News Agency. The incident is under investigation, and the male suspect has been arrested for a disturbance of order, Iranian officials said.
‘Hijab an unquestionable necessity’
On Saturday the Iranian authorities repeated their stance that wearing the hijab was compulsory,
“The important matter is that today we have a legal mandate,” said Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, according to Reuters. “The legal mandate makes it mandatory for everyone to follow the law.”
“If there are people who say that they do not share this belief of ours (the mandatory hijab), then this is a place for scientific and cultural centers as well as schools to discuss this and convince them,” Raisi added.
Iran’s Ministry of Interior said that the “hijab is an unquestionable religious necessity,” according to a tweet from the agency on Saturday.
Iranians have taken to the streets nationwide in protest for several months against Iran’s mandatory hijab law, and political and social issues across the country, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September.
Women have burned their headscarves and cut their hair, with some schoolgirls removing their headscarves in classrooms.
Those arrested for participating in anti-government demonstrations have faced various forms of abuse and torture, including electric shocks, controlled drowning, rape and mock executions.
School students who protested faced being detained and taken to mental health institutions.
Some protestors have even been sentenced to death and executed.
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