Guidance patrols and heavy punishments for wearing hijab do not work

Mohammad Sarafraz, Former Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in an interview with Khabar Online:

"During Mr. Ahmadinejad's time, we wanted to launch the 'Press TV' network and intended to set up a studio in the UK. We looked at various places and saw that one of the best locations was this National Iranian Oil Company building on the best street in London. I personally went to the top floor; from up there, we could see inside the Queen of England's palace.

The building is located in such an important place, and you see that it makes no difference between this government and that government; they secretly and quietly squandered such a valuable property and have not provided a single line of explanation as to why this happened.

Some might want to link the hijab issue to other matters. When the 'Snapback' mechanism was raised, I think the government officials themselves estimated that they could prevent it through diplomacy and other actions they were taking, but this method was not practical; because they did not want to give them any concessions and expected the Europeans to back down, and this was not possible. The US and Europe, given the totality of the conditions they possess from inside the country, were not willing to back down.

Regarding the hijab, we do not have a new law; we have a law from the early days of the Revolution which stipulates that women must wear full hijab when appearing in public. And this is the only law currently in existence.

Of course, this law, like some other laws such as those concerning satellite dishes, etc., is not being enforced and is fundamentally unenforceable, because the meaning of this law is that even if a single strand of a woman’s hair is visible, she must be dealt with."