Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to social media this week to chastise the West over the treatment of women, a move which has attracted incredulity given Iran's record on women's rights.
"In the West, #women’s dignity is being shattered more and more every day. All of the things that destroy the #family are increasing by the day in the West," Khamenei wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
In the West, #women’s dignity is being shattered more and more every day. All of the things that destroy the #family are increasing by the day in the West.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) December 27, 2023
The Islamic Republic has come under increased scrutiny and criticism for women's rights in the country in the past year, after protests erupted nationwide in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini died on September 16 after she was arrested by Iran's Guidance Patrol, also known as the "morality police,” for improperly covering her hair with a hijab. Although her family was informed that she had suffered a heart attack while in custody, it is widely believed she was tortured and beaten to death.
Her death sparked protests across Iran as women removed hijabs and proudly showed off their hair, while general disenchantment with the Islamic hardline regime also came to the fore. At least 15,000 people were arrested over the subsequent months, although numbers are difficult to verify, with at least 551 protesters, including 68 minors, killed, according to Iran Human Rights, a Norwegian-based NGO that focuses on human rights in Iran.A community comment on Khamenei's X post stated, "The Iranian regime protects the dignity of women by having religious police beat and torture them to death like Mahsa Ahmini."Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought the hardliners to power, Iran was seen as a more moderate Muslim country where women were not required to dress according to Islamic law and makeup was permitted.
Iran ranks poorly for women's rights
A 2023 report by Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) found Iran ranked 140th, out of 177 nations ranked.