If a (democratic) majority of the Iranian people are pro-conservative-clothing and the policing of how people dress in public, it is hard to believe that these protests will go very far. Hopefully they'll help reduce some of the corruption in the country - killing people because of their choice of dress shows an extraordinary level of insecurity.
There are two things to note here. One is that had they not been as radical as they are they would probably have ended up like a lot of regimes that one day were allied with the west and then toppled the next, with a dysfunctional state and potentially disputed borders as a result. See Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless others. Notice that every time a new sanctions round was announced the regime became more theocratic and radical.
Close family friends that are very antireligion by now told me that once that person went to the countryside that the majority of people was in fact wearing hijab and and very conservative(at the time of the Shah who banned the hijab wearing in an effort to be more western).
The thing I just can't comprehend is why they thought it's a good idea to not only establish a moral police, but also empower them to an extent that may end up in the death of an individual instead of just saying fuck it, we can't win this part, let everyone decide for themselves and we'll try to get some favour by letting the more liberal part have this little win.
There are really only two ways you can make sense out of this:
1. they are really that blind
2. which I find more realistic is the thought process of: "if we give them this win, they will want more and then we don't know where it ends". In a way that's not that different from asking for some leniency in an absurd process in Germany where the service person then says that, if you get this special solution, everyone will ask for it in the future.
> "if we give them this win, they will want more and then we don't know where it ends"
Funnily that's what Metternich and similar reactionaries in post -Napoleonic Europe thought, and they were terribly mistaken. It just resulted in a lot of pent up anger and issues eventually exploding in revolution (which failed, but still).
This article missed a few points. First, even if the president is directly elected, candidates for the post need to be approved by the Supreme Leader (the indirectly elected for life religious guy). So democracy is really a stretch.
> If a (democratic) majority of the Iranian people are pro-conservative-clothing and the policing of how people dress in public, it is hard to believe that these protests will go very fa
At least some pro-conservative people agree that modesty cannot be enforced, and hijabs should be a choice (there was a Guardian interview with a few of them recently).
And honestly, it doesn't matter what religiously backwards conservative people think now, in a sense. They will always think the same, the goal of a country should be to educate the masses so there are less religious conservative elements impeding societal progress.
The Islamists in Iran weren't the majority during the revolution, they just won over the communists and others (who were probably the majority).
And yes, equality is something all countries and societies should strive for. I couldn't care less if your religion told you women should be subservient or that pink skinned people are subhuman, it's wrong.
> This article missed a few points. First, even if the president is directly elected, candidates for the post need to be approved by the Supreme Leader (the indirectly elected for life religious guy). So democracy is really a stretch.
Not really, assuming the UK. The people of the UK don't vote directly for a PM, they vote in an undemocratic first past the post, and the majority party elects the PM among their sitting members. The Queen/King appoints them, but can't really vet or refuse.
If a (democratic) majority of the Iranian people are pro-conservative-clothing and the policing of how people dress in public, it is hard to believe that these protests will go very far. Hopefully they'll help reduce some of the corruption in the country - killing people because of their choice of dress shows an extraordinary level of insecurity.