Thousands protest in Iranian cities over acid attacks on women
Thousands hit the streets in the tourist centre of Isfahan as anger grows
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 October, 2014, 10:04pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 October, 2014, 10:04pm
Guardian in Isfahan
Thousands protest in Iranian cities over acid attacks on women
Thousands of people have staged a protest in Isfahan, Iran top tourist destination, demanding authorities stop acid attacks on young women that have sparked horror and outrage.
Assailants riding motorbikes, in a similar sequence of events, have thrown acid in the face of at least eight women who were driving in the street with their windows pulled down.
Media say the number of victims could be higher. The attacks have so far claimed one life, an opposition website said.
Many Iranians believe that victims were targeted because they were women wearing clothes that could be deemed inappropriate in the eyes of hardliners, a claim vehemently denied by the authorities.
Throngs of Isfahani citizens, horrified by the number of the vicious assaults, gathered in front of the city's justice department on Wednesday, calling on the authorities to put an end to the crimes, which have highlighted the striking challenges women face in Iran, where wearing of the hijab is obligatory.
Some protesters in Isfahan chanted slogans that described the attackers as Iran's own version of Islamic State, the extremist group that has committed atrocities in Iraq and Syria.
"Stop violence against women" read a placard held by a female protester, according to images posted on Twitter. "Freedom and security are the rights of Iranian women," protesters chanted.
In Tehran, dozens of people showed solidarity with the victims in Isfahan by staging a similar, but smaller, gathering in front of the Iranian parliament, calling on MPs to halt a bill that gives more freedom to the morality police and plain-clothes militia in their crackdown on women without hijab.
Women in Iran are required by law to be covered from head to toe but many defy the regulations by revealing their stylish hair or pushing the boundaries. In response, the morality police regularly patrol big squares and at public buildings cautioning women and asking them to bring their headscarves forward.
Earlier this week, Iranian legislators considered a bill prohibiting the use of violence in the hijab crackdown but at the same time gives more leeway to the enforcing officials.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian human rights activist, told T he Guardian in a phone interview from Tehran that she was among the protesters in the capital.
Iranian officials, wary of the media coverage in the country, warned reporters against spreading fear in society. The authorities are particularly sensitive to suggestions that the victims were selected due to their hijab.
Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, head of the informal voluntary Basij militia, said Western media were linking the attacks to the hijab issue, and in doing so trying to distort the image of Islam.
