Bahnar’s Retreat Following Strong Reactions to His Remarks on Hijab
Mohammad-Reza Bahnar, a conservative member of the Expediency Discernment Council, who had recently stated that he did not believe in compulsory hijab from the beginning, revised his statements on a TV program on IRIB.
On October 4, Bahnar had claimed that he did not believe in compulsory hijab from the start, stating that the compulsory hijab law is not mandatory and that the National Security Council’s negotiations have halted the parliamentary resolution known as the Law of Chastity and Hijab.
These remarks faced severe criticism from hardline conservatives in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Islamic Republic’s propaganda institutions, and the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper.
On the evening of October 11, this member of the Expediency Discernment Council appeared on an IRIB TV program, revising his statements and saying that perhaps the way I spoke allowed some to misuse it and claim that I do not believe in hijab at all.
He also emphasized that it is absolutely incorrect for anyone to say that the issue of hijab is non-essential or diminished in Sharia.
The host of the program also emphasized that Bahnar’s stance was neither the stance of the system nor the leadership, and it was not advisable.
