As Iran continues to be rocked by a nationwide uprising, the country’s rulers have intensified their campaign to enforce the mandatory hijab. The result has been a wave of intimidation and violence against women.

The country’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, recently praised the mandatory veiling as a “legal matter,” and his Minister of Science, Research, and Technology issued a statement banning students who do not comply with the mandatory veiling from having access to educational and welfare services. The regime’s Judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, has also urged the police to deal with the regime-proclaimed “crime” of not wearing the hijab without “any tolerance.” Meanwhile, shops and public places have been sealed for accepting “improperly veiled” women.

The clerical regime’s actions are a desperate response to Iranian women’s leading role in the nationwide uprising, which has rattled the system’s foundations and laid bare its weakness. Many of the martyrs who have fallen for freedom in recent demonstrations are young Iranian girls and women.

The courage and determination of Iranian women, and their leading role in the protests defying four decades of oppression, have amazed the entire world. This leading role did not happen overnight. It stems from 44 years of heroic perseverance of women in the Iranian Resistance, particularly the country’s leading opposition, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

On June 21, 1996, Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said at a convention in London that the misogynous, inhuman mullahs are intent on destroying the rights and freedoms of women and trampling upon their human dignity in order to bolster the pillars of their regime. But, she added, “you will receive the blow from the very force you discounted, the very force whom your reactionary mindset cannot allow you to take into consideration.”

The regime aims to portray the “mandatory veiling” and some basic personal freedoms as the Iranian women and the uprising’s core demand. Since the beginning of the protests, authorities have tried to downplay Iranian women’s demands. However, one of the most popular slogans in the uprising is “With or without hijab, onward to revolution.” The plain truth is that the people of Iran, of all faiths and personal beliefs, are united in one thing: getting rid of the despotic rule of the mullahs.

As evidenced by their role in the uprising and the Resistance movement, Iranian women are a force for change. The regime’s oppressive measures or efforts to downplay their demands cannot enslave their spirit. The international community should support the Iranian people, especially the women, and their aspirations for a secular and democratic republic. International organizations should take practical and effective measures against the oppression of women in Iran and discrimination against them.

MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub