An Iranian woman spoke about arrests in the tourism sector “because of the hijab”

Iran assures that it welcomes tourists, especially Russians, but at the same time unpleasant news continues to come from the country about arrests due to “violation of the Islamic dress code.” The Islamic moral police detain not the “half-naked” foreign tourists themselves, but their guides, the hoteliers who “allowed this to happen,” and even the staff of the travel agency through which the violators arrived in the Islamic Republic.

And since such information in the Western press is often exaggerated, we asked about the situation from someone who knows it from the inside – an “intourist” guide from Tehran – 27-year-old Firuze (name changed for the safety of our interlocutor).

– Firuza, if only nameless European tourists complained about the Islamic police, one would not believe it. But your press also writes that over the past two weeks, two guides have been arrested in the province of Isfahan, and a number of tourist sites and hotels have been closed – all because of “improper wearing of the hijab.” What is this anyway? They said that Islamic dress does not concern tourists!

– Probably, we are talking about Nilufar Ghazaleh and Mohammad Ali Moghimi, this is a married couple working with tourists in Khur (Khur and Biabanak – districts of Isfahan province – Author). The local judge does not like them, since he has already forgiven and canceled Nilufar’s previous sentences more than once; she promised to improve, but she continues. Apparently, the judge’s patience ran out.

– Why does she continue?

– What is happening here now is immediately understood by your tourists who remember the Soviet Union. We have both bad and good, but the main thing is certain rules of the game. In the USSR, for example, everyone quietly violated the established rules, but they did not greet foreign guests with calls to violate the orders and laws of their own country. They didn’t trample their flag in front of them and all that. Our elders often turn a blind eye when young people do something that is prohibited by Sharia. And he prohibits many things – dancing, for example. But everyone is dancing in the apartments, if everyone had been grabbed, the whole of Tehran would have been in jail. So they grab those who defiantly spit on the values ​​of our country and call on foreigners to do the same. And we all love our country, no matter what happens to it! And a girl working with foreign tourists must be smart.

– You love, but you dance secretly!

– The country, its people, their aspirations and the order established today are not the same thing. If people want to change the existing order, then they need to approach this comprehensively and openly. Nobody believed that our grandparents would overthrow the Shah in 1979; Reagan himself and his wife celebrated that New Year, and they overthrew him when their patience ran out. My grandfather personally went to all the demonstrations. And if they are still being patient, it means the time has not come yet. But to discredit and disgrace your country in the eyes of tourists is the same as inviting guests to your home and starting to criticize your home and family in front of them. Then you must first remodel the house as you like, and then invite guests. Well, or don’t find fault. These are our internal difficulties.

– Did 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa, who died from “improper wearing of the hijab,” also “defiantly not give a damn about the rules”?

– I do not know this tragedy first hand. But I know for sure: go to Feresht in the evening (an expensive district of Tehran – Author) and you will see a crowd of girls without a hijab at all. And no police. And Mahsa is the only one in our entire large country, and she came to visit from Iraq. I don’t want to say anything, it’s terrible to take girls to the morality police. It’s terrible that you can buy from them for money the right to walk without a headscarf, or any right at all. My friend was driving drunk, she was detained, of course, they called her father and gave it to him.

– Didn’t he kill her?

“In our intelligent, wealthy families, a man not only doesn’t beat a woman, he doesn’t even raise his voice. These are all the “privileges” of the illiterate poor.

In general, there are a lot of lies about my country now. But if all this were true, would Iran have been elected to represent human rights at the UN?! And Iran was elected. Because our people are wise, especially the elders. They have experienced a lot since the victory of the Islamic revolution. Not everyone agreed with the development of events, not everyone expected just such a turnaround, the majority of Iranians from various walks of life only wanted to get rid of the Shah, so that our country and oil belonged not to the Shah and the Americans, but to us, the Iranian people. But the most powerful of the forces involved in the revolution, and there were many of them, including youth, unexpectedly for many turned out to be the religious force in the person of Khomeini. Because at that time there were more deeply religious people in our country than any other. Not everyone was ready for this, but since it happened, it means it was necessary at that time. My grandfather says that you need to study, develop, learn new things, and then at the time of making an important decision for yourself, for your family, and for your beloved country, you will have not only faith, but also knowledge and a clear understanding of your goals . But we still need to grow to this point. And without running away from difficulties, staying in their native land and gradually, step by step, defending their rights.

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