The killing of the Iranian young woman, Mahsa Amini, because of the way she wore the hijab, sparked massive demonstrations in the country, which were especially marked by the gestures made by women, rejecting the laws that obligate the way of dress, and the imposition of covering the head by force.
During the ongoing protests since the killing of Amini, 22, at the hands of the morality police on September 16, Iranian women defied the security men by removing their headscarves, and some of them cut locks from their hair, as did their supporters in different capitals of the world.
These were clear signs that Iranian women were fed up with the methods of imposing a certain dress on them, while Several activists participate Old pictures of Iran, proving that Iranian women were more like their peers in the whole world, before the Islamic revolution changed everything, starting in 1979.
Opportunity “beta pixelFor his part, he published a set of photos, as part of a general condemnation of what Iran has become due to the strict laws “imposed by a group of clerics on Iranian society,” as opponents say, that changed the features of an entire country.
The pictures that were taken during the rule of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who did not live in that era may not believe that they were taken in Iran and not in a Western country.
The girls wore all kinds of skirts, and everything that was manufactured in the framework of the fashion that prevailed at that period without fear of any security escalation once morest them.
As for the young people, they were fond of jeans, which are made in Western countries, especially the United States, and most of them had their hair done, as Hollywood stars and artists of the sixties and seventies do.
While the Shah’s dictatorship suppressed dissent and restricted political freedom, it also pushed the country to embrace Western-oriented secular modernization, allowing a certain degree of cultural freedom.
The Shah granted women the right to vote, and an increasing number of them joined the workforce.
Their rights were also protected under the Family Protection Law, which gave them the right to demand divorce and the prohibition of marriage for those under 15 years of age.
Men and women mingled freely and education for all was encouraged.
Under the Shah, Iranians enjoyed the luxury of attending colleges, universities, and libraries, while high schools were free for all and financial support was provided to university students.
Therefore, the late Shah’s son hailed the demonstrations taking place in Iran as a historic revolution led by women and urged countries around the world to put more pressure on the religious leadership.
Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, called for greater preparation for a future Iranian regime, secular and democratic, as he described it.
“In my opinion, it is the first revolution in the modern era for women and led by women, with the support of the men of Iran, from sons, brothers and fathers,” Pahlavi, who lives in exile in Washington, the United States, told AFP regarding a month ago.
“It came to the point of saying: Enough,” he added.
His grandfather, Reza Shah, banned the headscarf in 1936, in an effort to imitate the West inspired by neighboring Turkey, but the last Shah, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, made the veil an option.
It ended with the Islamic Republic imposing “decency” rules for women in public, which became the subject of criticism from the new generation of Iranian women and even their male peers.
The Islamic Republic was established more than four decades ago, and it has survived despite the hostility of Western countries, especially the United States.
But Pahlavi (Jr.) stresses that the system can end at any time, and that the world must be prepared.
The Iranian revolution brought regarding drastic changes in Iran, not least for women.
One area that has come under scrutiny is the way women wear headscarves and the need for loose-fitting dress.
After that, the wearing of the veil was imposed, and many of the rights previously granted to women were withdrawn, while most of them yearn to regain their rights on the occasion of the protests that have been going on for nearly a month.
Observers believe that the protests that were sparked by the killing of Amini moved to demand the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime, which is the secret of the regime’s fear of these protests, its suppression of them at times, and its attempt to play on the “imminent external danger” at other times and to give calm signs.
The authorities replaced a huge mural depicting Iranian women wearing the veil, the day following it was raised in a main square in central Tehran, following it sparked widespread controversy among Iranians, in light of the ongoing protests.
The mural, which was raised early Thursday at Vali Asr Square, included pictures of dozens of well-known women in Iran, with the phrase “Women of my land, Iran.”
Since the start of the protests, the demonstrators have been raising different slogans, most notably “A woman..a life..freedom“.
