The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance has issued directives for productions condemning abortion.
Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili, the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, praised the performance of the Fajr Film Festival during a meeting of Iran’s Public Culture Council yesterday, February 13. He emphasized the public’s warm reception of the event and the abundance of works with revolutionary themes related to the Iran-Iraq war. He stated that the most important aspect of the festival was that its atmosphere had aligned more closely with Iranian and Islamic models, free from the ignorant display that always troubled the devout revolutionary movement.
Officials of the Islamic Republic accuse women who do not adhere to the government’s mandatory hijab of self-display and ostentation, as mentioned in religious texts. The Minister of Culture’s reference likely pertains to the absence of female actors appearing with optional dress codes at the festival ceremonies.
Mr. Khazaei’s slip-ups and the incorrect recitation of the New Year’s religious prayer during the closing ceremony sparked numerous reactions, which he attributed to the exhaustion from the intense work of organizing the festival.
In another part of his speech, Esmaeili highlighted the necessity for active participation from the subdivisions of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in implementing childbearing policies. He stressed the importance of promoting against abortion, saying that in terms of encouraging population growth and condemning abortion, cultural promotion should be prioritized. We have instructed all sections of the Ministry of Culture to ensure they produce works on this topic next year. Of course, significant impact cannot be achieved within one or two years, but we must not act passively in this area.
For several years, the Iranian government has been following directives from Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, to increase childbearing. They are pursuing restrictive policies on fetal screening and prohibiting birth control plans, which critics argue effectively lead to the confinement of women to the home and their exclusion from society.