The country was once a pro-Western monarchy with no rules for dress and behavior
O Since 1979, it has been associated with an autocratic country with strict laws and social rules imposed by the theocratic State. Dress, behavior and other aspects of citizens’ lives are controlled by the government, under penalty of arrest and punishment if they are not complied with. It wasn’t always like this.
Until the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the country was a pro-Western monarchy. The head of the government was the shah – a title historically given to the monarchs of Persia. The last of them was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), who ruled the country from 1941 to 1979. The Pahlavi dynasty began with his father, Reza Pahlavi (1878-1944), who was crowned in 1926 after leading a coup d’état. He was the one who changed the name of the country from Persia to Iran.
The Pahlavi dynasty promoted the country’s modernization and its rapprochement with the West. The overthrow of the regime by the Islamic Revolution was mainly due to dissatisfaction with the westernization, corruption, social inequality and authoritarianism.
IRAN BEFORE THE REVOLUTION
One of the most visible differences between pre- and post-Islamic Revolution Iran is the code of mandatory that was inserted with the government of the ayatollahs. Before, women could wear makeup, hair without a veil and short skirts.
Furthermore, the streets had bars and casinos that operated during the early hours of the morning. You could listen to music in styles such as pop and rock, without needing approval from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Both styles are currently banned.
In 1963, the White Revolution was launched, a Pahlevi forced modernization program that made women’s suffrage legal. Women were now able to attend universities and hold professions and public positions such as ministers and judges.
Despite this, freedom was not complete. The government of the shahs was a dictatorship in which there was no freedom of the press, expression or opposition. Offenders were detained by Savak, the Iranian secret police, and tortured and executed in prisons. In rural areas, society suffered from social and economic exclusion.
THE AYATOLLAHS COME TO POWER
The popular uprising of the Iranian Revolution overthrew the monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran, a theocratic state based on the Quran (holy book of Islam), with a Shiite orientation, under the government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989).
Ayatollah is the term used for high-ranking religious leaders in Islam. Khomeini became supreme leader, maximum authority with control of the Armed Forces and authority over the Three Powers. He can even remove the president from office with the support of Congress.
With Khomeini’s arrival in power, the Family Protection Laws, which guaranteed women’s rights on issues such as marriage and free will, were and the country began to follow a strict based on Sharia (Islamic law).
Girls over the age of 9 were now considered legally fit for marriage. From that age onwards, they are also forced to wear hijab and abaya (clothing that covers hair and much of the body).
Men and women cannot be seen together unless they are related or married. Women also have the right to a smaller inheritance than men in the event of the death of a family member.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
The penalty for those who break the rules is imprisonment by the Revolutionary Guard – also called the “Morality Police”. The corporation emerged as a new armed force during the revolution with the aim of protecting its principles, and is allowed to search homes.
In one of the regime’s emblematic cases, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini was em 2022 by the Revolutionary Guard for the “inappropriate” use of the veil.
The Iranian penal code now classifies crimes into 3 categories: hudud (crimes fixed in the Quran and with mandatory punishments), revenge (crimes against people in which the family can request the “eye for an eye” penalty or accepting financial compensation) and tazir (lighter crimes in which the judge or State determines the punishment). Common physical punishments include whipping, amputation and stoning.
Other acts reprehensible under the Iranian penal code are:
- alcohol consumption;
- same-sex relationships;
- adultery;
- apostasy (renouncing Islam).
Iranian laws also apply to tourists visiting the country. For guidance, the Brazilian government makes available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page a tourism for Brazilians who wish to visit Iran.
This report was produced by the journalism trainee at Poder360 under the supervision of the editor.
