“When 50% of ladies in the country do no fully observe hijab, police should not get involved in this issue,” said Ali Larijani.
“The hijab law should be treated the same way as is the law banning satellite equipment,” he said.
“As authorities are not strict with people using satellite equipment despite the fact that there is a law banning its use, the same approach should be adopted with regards to hijab,” he noted.
Larijani argued that even during the rule of the despotic Pahlavi regime in Iran when it was not obligatory to wear Islamic headscarves and women were encouraged not to observe hijab, a considerable number of ladies did, in fact, wear hijab.
“At that time, our clergy were treading the right path,” he noted.
“Another point is that we should not do something that such matters be seen as a state issue; in that case, social behavior will change,” said Larijani, former Iranian parliament speaker and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
“Should the government intervene in all affairs the way it has in this issue,” he asked rhetorically.
