Iranian authorities to Impose More Stringent Hijab Laws

A collective picture of the victims of the Iranian regime (Iran International
A collective picture of the victims of the Iranian regime (Iran International
TT
20

Iranian authorities to Impose More Stringent Hijab Laws

A collective picture of the victims of the Iranian regime (Iran International
A collective picture of the victims of the Iranian regime (Iran International

Iranian authorities intend to enforce the requirement for women to wear the veil more strictly through video surveillance, according to Iranian media.

Iran's Etemad newspaper said on Friday that the parliamentary justice committee wants to expand the scope of monitoring already used in road traffic to include public places.

Women will be warned at first, via a text message, in the event of violations, and in the event of a repeat violation, the violations will be punished by imposing a fine on them.

At the beginning of January, Etemad had already published a report on reforms to penalize violations of the Islamic dress code more stringently.

At the time, there was talk of community service assignments, re-education courses, bans on leaving the country, employment restrictions and fines.

For months now, the notorious morality police, who used to patrol the headscarf law, have almost completely disappeared from the streets.

Many women in Iran's big cities no longer wear the veil. Critics in Iran complain about the lack of social support for the new tightening of laws.

For more than four months, Iranians have been demonstrating against oppressive policies.

A wave of protests had erupted due to the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody after the morality police had arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.

In other news, Reuters reported that social media images purported to be of an emaciated jailed Iranian dissident on hunger strike have caused outrage online as supporters warned on Friday he risks death for protesting the compulsory wearing of the hijab.

Farhad Meysami, 53, who has been in jail since 2018 for supporting women activists protesting against Iran's headscarf policy, began his hunger strike on Oct. 7 to protest recent government killings of demonstrators, the dissident's lawyer said.



Sudan’s Burhan Shakes up Army, Tightens Control

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
TT
20

Sudan’s Burhan Shakes up Army, Tightens Control

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his new senior officers. (Facebook)

Sudan's army chief appointed a raft of new senior officers on Monday in a reshuffle that strengthened his hold on the military as he consolidates control of central and eastern regions and fights fierce battles in the west.

Sudan's army, which controls the government, is fighting a more than two-year civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its former partners in power, that has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made new appointments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff a day after announcing the retirement of several long-serving officers, some of whom have gained a measure of fame over the past two years.

Burhan, who serves as Sudan's internationally recognized head of state, kept the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mohamed Othman al-Hussein, but appointed a new inspector general and a new head of the air force.

Another decree from Burhan on Sunday brought all the other armed groups fighting alongside the army - including former Darfur rebels, Islamist brigades, civilians who joined the war effort and tribal militias - under his control.

Sudanese politicians praised the decision, saying it would prevent the development of other centres of power in the military, and potentially the future formation of other parallel forces like the RSF.

The RSF has its roots in militias armed by the military in the early 2000s to fight in Darfur. It was allowed to develop parallel structures and supply lines.

The reshuffle comes a week after Burhan met US senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos in Switzerland, where issues including a transition to civilian rule were discussed, government sources said.

The war erupted in April 2023 when the army and the RSF clashed over plans to integrate their forces.

The RSF made quick gains in central Sudan, including the capital Khartoum, but the army pushed them westward this year, leading to an intensification in fighting in al-Fashir in Darfur.