Most recently, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Iran, Abbas Mousavi, was forced to resign after a female Baku TV presenter, Sevink Gurmanmadov, interviewed her without wearing a hijab. Many supporters of the regime in Iran were furious that a female journalist gave an interview inside the Iranian embassy without wearing a hijab, and expressed disdain, including punishing Mousavi. However, their criticism of Gulmanmadova for not wearing a hijab highlights how the Iranian regime oppresses women in general and female journalists in particular.
Female journalists should not be forced to wear hijabs, especially when conducting interviews in central Baku rather than in Iran. The fact that the interview took place inside the Iranian embassy, which is under the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, makes no difference. Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Prize-winning human rights lawyer, argued that the compulsory hijab law violates Iran’s constitution. Article 23 of Iran’s constitution states: “Inquiry into a person’s beliefs is prohibited and no person shall be subject to sexual abuse or be prosecuted because of his beliefs.” It is being
Alireza Asghari wrote in an article titled “Enforced Hijab in Iran: Women’s Choice or State Demand?” “One of the implications of such articles is that women are free to choose their religion, beliefs, and opinions, and that women are free to choose their own religion, beliefs, and opinions, and that they are free to choose their own religion, beliefs, and opinions, and not to adhere to a particular religion, including wearing (or not wearing) the Islamic hijab or the Islamic hijab. other types of dress codes.The Constitution recognizes people’s right to choose their religion; However, Islamic criminal law, which supports mandatory hijab laws, violates women’s right to religious freedom and religious practice, including the hijab.
Gurmanmadhwa has previously met with ambassadors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan, a conservative Muslim country, but was never criticized for her attire. However, Mousavi’s interview was conducted against the backdrop of portraits of Iran’s supreme leader and the late General Qassem Soleimani, and some regime supporters violated diplomatic protocol and expressed blatant contempt for Iranian officials. It was regarded as such.
Anyone who understands Azerbaijani culture would not view it this way. If you go to Baku, you will find that most women do not wear the hijab except when entering the Heydar Aliyev Mosque or other Muslim places of worship. In Baku, female journalists in particular tend to wear Western attire, always preferring the latest Parisian fashion to traditional Islamic attire. In fact, it can even be said that Azerbaijani female professionals prefer to compete with Europeans as to who can wear the most fashionable Western professional clothes. For them, wearing a hijab while doing important professional work is out of place.
Iranian female journalist attacked
Of course, Iran is not a country known for respecting the human rights of journalists, especially women journalists. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, last month, “security forces raided the newsroom of the private multimedia economic news website Falday Egh Tesad in Argentine Square in the capital Tehran, detained all 30 staff members inside the building, and stopped the news… They searched the room and seized everyone’s cell phones, as well as other electronic devices such as laptops. Five journalists were detained in the newsroom for four days. ”
Iranian journalist and Iran International television presenter Puglia Zehrati was recently stabbed in front of her London home. The channel’s spokesperson Adam Bailey said the journalist had been the victim of “serious death threats” and that Mr Zelati was “visibly shaken but is recovering well”. Iran International is a UK-based channel that provides a “fair and balanced view of what is happening inside Iran”.
Iranian female journalists Niroufar Hamedi, 31, and Elaheh Mohammadi, 36, who were arrested for covering the Mahsa Amini protests, were also charged with not wearing a hijab after being released on bail from Evin Prison. It was done. After their arrest, Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, who lives in exile in the United States, told the Guardian: That’s why Iranian authorities want to punish these two women for resisting the compulsory veiling and practicing civil disobedience. In the eyes of Islamic Republic officials, they are criminals, but in the eyes of millions of Iranian women, they are our heroes. ”
As pointed out by Iran International, “Mr. Mousavi, a career diplomat, served as spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2020, particularly during the era of then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.” She was appointed Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan in August. Images and video clips of Baku TV’s female presenter Sevink Gülmanmadova interviewing the now-dismissed ambassador have gone viral on social media, with her It sparked anger from regime supporters who denounced the dress code as offensive.
However, Iran International noted that all women in Iran suffer from the country’s strict hijab laws. They further state that “One of the final victims of the Iranian regime’s repressive hijab policy was Armita Gheravand. The 16-year-old girl sustained a brain injury sustained during a violent altercation with a regime hijab enforcer. After being in a coma for about a month, he passed away on October 28, 2023.
For this reason, everyone must praise Sevinci Gurmanmadova for refusing to appease Muslims in central Baku and taking a brave stand against Iran’s compulsory hijab law. If the Iranian government still wants to have an embassy in Azerbaijan, it must learn to treat Azerbaijani women journalists and Azerbaijan’s open society with respect and dignity, even if they refuse to wear the hijab. Otherwise, their embassy would not exist in Baku’s vibrant landscape.
In a broader perspective, the incident with Sevinci Gülmanmadova and the ambassador reflects Iran’s hegemonic attitude toward the cultures of other countries, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza.
The author is a prominent Middle East scholar and commentator.
