Charges that Iran’s restrictive policies towards women are similar to those practiced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are gaining currency among Arab language commentators.

Iran went from banning hijab in 1936 to making it compulsory in 1979.  Now, wearing the hijab is legally required in Iran, even in schools.

Additionally, similar to the ISIS decision to ban women from walking in the streets without the permission of their husbands, radical elements in Iran recently demanded an enforcement of a similar resolution in their country.

The Al-Arab newspaper (Arabic link) wrote this week:

Most clerics in Iran claim that a woman’s place is at home and not in the workplace, in universities, in the streets or in the parks. The Iranian regime does not seem to understand that many changes have taken place in the Middle East since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Kuwaiti columnist Khalil Abu Haidar further compared Tehran to the Taliban movement and claimed that the Iranian regime’s attitude to women is the worst in the entire Muslim world.

Experts believe that the restrictions on women in Iran arise from a patriarchal society where all decision-making is conducted by the male clergy. “A woman who cannot raise her voice at dinner, cannot do so in the Parliament,” said one expert (Arabic link).

But lately Iranian women began to fight back to regain their status in society. In recent months there was a protest against a reported series of acid attacks on women who were insufficiently veiled, while an actress refused to appear at an event that required her to be fully covered.

The newspaper “Peik Iran” (Persian link) compared the Islamic Republic to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying, “The organization of the Islamic state imposes wearing hijab and enforce Islamic law in a radical way, just as the Iranian regime does.”

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