Iran: Criticism Over the Flogging of Female Activist on Mother's Day for Not Wearing Hijab

Women share an umbrella as they stand at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital, Tehran (File photo: AFP)
Women share an umbrella as they stand at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital, Tehran (File photo: AFP)
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Iran: Criticism Over the Flogging of Female Activist on Mother's Day for Not Wearing Hijab

Women share an umbrella as they stand at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital, Tehran (File photo: AFP)
Women share an umbrella as they stand at Enghelab Square in Iran's capital, Tehran (File photo: AFP)

Iran has witnessed significant outrage following the authorities' decision to flog a female activist for not wearing the hijab on Mother's Day, according to human rights activists.

The Iranian judiciary sentenced Kurdish activist Roya Heshmati to 74 lashes.

The Mizan agency, affiliated with the judicial authority, stated that the law carried out these actions.

Iranians expressed their anger, notably as it coincided with Mother's Day in Iran, which fell on January 4th.

Al-Shargh newspaper reported that Heshmati was arrested last April after posting a picture of herself without headcover, which is mandatory for women in Iran, as reported by the German news agency.

She was arrested in April "for publishing a photo on social media without wearing a headscarf," her lawyer, Maziar Tatai, told the Shargh Daily.

He indicated that the appeal against a 13-year prison sentence was successful. However, the flogging punishment for moral offenses remained in place.

Later, images circulated online showing signs of torture on a veiled woman's body. But Heshmati wrote on her now-closed Facebook account that the alleged pictures were not of her. She asserted that the whip lashes were weak enough to cause these wounds.

Heshmati announced her verdict in October of last year.

Tatai stated that the court sentenced her to 13 years and nine months in prison, in addition to a fine and 148 lashes, but the appellate court upheld the fine and imposed 74 lashes.

Heshmati described the room where the sentence was carried out as resembling a fully equipped medieval torture chamber.

Some female politicians, including prominent female dissident Zahra Rahnavard, objected to the lashing of the young woman for hijab.

"You who rule! You whip Roya Heshmati's body, but she, the one with an alert and resilient conscience, laughs bitterly at you. I abhor your manner of governance," Rahnavard, who has been under house arrest since 2011 along with her husband Mir-Hossein Mousavi, said in a message.

Azar Mansoori, who leads the Reformist Front and the People's Unity Party of Islamic Iran, objected to the sentence.

Mansoori stated that one could not be a Muslim and stay silent about Heshmati's flogging for hijab.

Iranian sociologist Mohammad Fazli wrote on the X platform that the law is meant to preserve human dignity so they can live in peace and tranquility, not to break hearts with news of the flogging of a fellow citizen on Mother's Day.

Iran witnessed massive protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman after morality police arrested her.

Her death last year sparked the most significant protests in Iran in decades, which were brutally suppressed by the authorities.

Since then, an increasing number of Iranian women have been seen in public places without wearing the hijab or adhering to rules.



Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
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Iranian Missile Hits Main Hospital in Southern Israel as Strikes Wound Dozens

Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Be'er Sheva, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing “extensive damage," according to the medical facility. 

Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.

Another missile hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country's sprawling nuclear program, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, though most have been shot down by Israel's multi-tiered air defenses, which detect incoming fire and shoot down missiles heading toward population centers and critical infrastructure. Israeli officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

The missile hit the Soroka Medical Center, which has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south.

A hospital statement said several parts of the medical center were damaged and that the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases. It was not immediately clear how many were wounded in the strike.

Many hospitals in Israel activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and move patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.

“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the military said. Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.

Israel had warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.