Interview of Hajjatul Islam Mehdi Mahdavipur
(The Representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Allamah Khamenei in India)
The goal of the news broadcasted by the international media, regarding the protest against the Hijab in Iran, is to defame Iran and start a media war. The world powers have tried their level best to show Iran as unsuccessful country on the different forums. They used different resources and tools to attack Iran. They used all kinds of tactics to weaken the Iranian economy, its stable government and its Islamic system. They imposed the economic sanction and they terminated the agreement. Despite implementing all these tactics, when the world powers couldn’t succeed in their agenda and ambitions; now they have started the media war against Iran. They are trying to harm Iran on the world level, under the cover of the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini. The representative of the Iran’s Supreme Leader Allamah Khamenaei, Hajjatul Islam Mehdi Mahdavipur, expressed these views, in an exclusive interview conducted by the the Chief Editor of Millat Times.
Talking to the Millat Times he said: “Mahsa Amini was sick, she was suffering from heart disease before. She died of heart attack in the police custody; but the international media reported this news in a wrong sense to defame the Islamic system of Iran. This false impression was given to the world that the Iran Police tortured a girl due to not wearing Hijab; while it is contrary to the fact.
No woman is forced to wear Hijab in Iran. Some women are found in Tehran, the capital city of Iran and some other cities who don’t wear Hijab at all; but they are never punished due to it, they are never arrested by the police for it. The fact is that the Iranian society is completely the Islamic one and the Iranian ladies wear Hijab and Burqa voluntarily and willingly.
When asked, he said that the cause of the death of Mahsa Amini was heart attack. The people were angry that is why the local people hold the peaceful protest on the first day following her death to register their protest. This protest was very peaceful and to express anger. They didn’t oppose wearing Hijab in it. But the world powers, the US and the Western Countries implemented their agenda under the cover of the protest. They planted their agents and evil elements in the protest that is why the protests of the following days were very violent. The protesters turned the demonstration taking place against the death into a demonstration against the Hijab which seemed to be pre-planned agenda. Later on, the extremist elements opened fire at the police vehicles and pelted stones, due to which seven police personnel were martyred. As a result, the police were forced to open fire at three separate places, where the Iranian citizens were killed. The death toll during the protests is reported in the media is baseless and contrary to the fact. Hujjtul-Islam Mehdi Mahdvipur further said that the elements who were involved in the protest were from the terror outfits. There were some evil elements from the Pakistani terror outfit Jaishul Adl which they have admitted themselves. The terror outfit Jaishul Adl brought a dead body at the protest site and they blamed the Iranian police even for it which the terrorists of the Jaishul Adl admitted during the investigation.
The representative of the Supreme Leader in India, Hujjatul Islam Mehdi Mehdavipur further said that on the one hand, with the support of the International powers, there was a protest of a few women against the Hijab, which was covered as the protest of the masses; but the millions of women came out on the streets protesting in the favour of the Hijab and these protests were held in the various cities on the other hand, which were never reported by the Western media. The demonstration in the favour of the Hijab was not covered; while some minor protests by few people were reported as the big one to tarnish the good image of the Islamic Republic Iran. This action of the International media proves that it intends to spread the negative propaganda against Iran and it is interested in defaming Iran and in plotting conspiracy against the Islamic system of Iran.
Hujjtul Islam Mehdi Mahdavipur further said that there is a secular government in France where practicing a religion is not allowed, hijab is banned, the women are punished for wearing Hijab, they have to pay fine for wearing Hijab, hundreds of the women were fired from their jobs only due to wearing Hijab; but this cruelty and brutality was never covered by the international media. The day Mahsa Amini died, the next day an American army killed an innocent child in Iraq brutally; but none raised a question on it and no one objected to this American brutality.
Just a week ago, there was a suicide attack in a Madrasah in Kabul. More than two hundred students were martyred in that attack. No any nation condemned this incident. None raised a question on it. The international media didn’t broadcast the news on this. The Muslims are being tortured, killed and murdered in different countries of the world, but the international media is keeping quiet and not showing any interest to cover such incidents. One the other hand, such noises are made following the death of a woman due to an illness in Iran. It gives clear indication that the Western Countries are starting the media war against Iran.
He said that following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the women have progressed immensely in each field in Iran. The Iranian women never progressed like this in the past. The women have well representation in every field in Iran. From the higher position to a small job, everywhere the women are found and they work wearing Hijab. The women are found in all the fields including the media, medical, education, police, administration and judiciary. It is our realization that the women are more active than the men. He said, the women participate even in the sports. There is the sports team for the women. They have separate stadiums equipped with all kinds of facilities. There is even a women Kabaddi team in Iran, which has defeated the Kabaddi team of India in an international competition just a few days back.
Responding to a question, Hajjatul Islam said that there is a full-fledged democracy in Iran. The opposition parties have full right to disagree, criticize and protest on a government policy and other issues. The public are never stopped from protest, criticism and objection. The protest which took place in the beginning, following the case of Mahsa Amini was peaceful. It was free from any international conspiracy; but the agents of the Western countries took advantage of it and the very next day they started a conspiracy against Iran and then they turned it into a media war.
Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish young woman, therefore, taking its advantage, an attempt was made to start a fight between Persian and the Kurdish ethnic people; but they didn’t get success to do so. There were large-scale protests in the favour of the Hijab and then the protest came to an end. Now there is no any protest being held in Iran, rather there is peace everywhere. On the occasion of the 12th of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the International Unity Conference has started in Iran. In this conference, 500 scholars from all over the world are going to participate. He further said that in the Indian mainstream media, the most of the news regarding Iran is broadcasted under the influence of the negative propaganda of the international media. The true picture of Iran and the news based on the facts are not finding place in the Indian media which is an irresponsible behaviour and attitude.
Note: Shams Tabriz Qasmi, the Chief Editor of Millat Times, interviewed the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Allama Khamenei in India, Hajjatul Islam Mehdi Mahdavipur on 12th October 2022 in the Iran Cultural House. Dr. Zabit Raza Haidar was the spokesperson.
