Iranian women who do not want to wear the Muslim head covering are to be given treatment at a special mental health clinic established in Tehran, a British newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The move, which comes days after an Iranian university student stripped down to her underwear in protest over the dress code, is the latest attempt by the Islamic Republic to quash women’s freedom and equality.
The Telegraph first reported that the “hijab removal treatment clinic” was announced by Mehri Talebi Darestani, the head of the Women and Family Department of the Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The government official said the clinic will offer “scientific and psychological treatment for hijab removal,” and that the project is focused on promoting “dignity, modesty, and chastity.”
She claimed that attendance would be optional.
According to the report, the clinic will be overseen by Iran’s Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, the government body responsible for enforcing religious standards across society.
The department is under international sanction for human rights abuses for its actions against women who do not adhere to Iran’s strict Islamic dress codes.
Iranian Mahsa Amini became an icon for oppressed women around the world as news spread of her death after being arrested by Iranian morality police for “improperly” wearing her hijab two years ago.
