According to the reports from Iran, the mullahs' regime held a briefing conference in late August for the women who were going to participate in the Women's Fourth World Conference.
Mohammad Javad Larijani, member of the Supreme National Security Council and Tehran's deputy in Majlis; mullah Mohaqqeq Damad, Chief of the National Inspection Organization; mullah Bojnourdi; Mehrpoor, one of the jurists in the Council of Guardians; and Ata'ollah Mohajerani, parliamentary and legal assistant to the president, were present to brief the participants.
One of the controversial issues in the two-day briefing conference was the issue of Hijab (veil). One of those protesting the (black head-to-toe) compulsory hijab was the grand daughter of Khomeini, Saiedeh Mostafavi. Calling it unsanitary, she asked: "Do we have to wear this chador in Beijing? This is dirty and unsanitary. I was compelled to wear it." Other women brought up their problems in the hospitals and in the society. According to the reports, Mohajerani was driven so mad that he threatened the women. "You must pray the Lord and be grateful that you have come here and the Islamic Republic is sending a women's delegation to Beijing." Some of the women protested and the atmosphere in the meeting became tense.
The regime's officials are worried about their women's bringing up such questions in the Beijing conference and creating a scandal. This is why they have assigned revolutionary guards to constantly watch them in Beijing and control all their movements.
Another mullah, Bojnourdi, spoke the next day, frankly confronting the remarks made by Khomeini's grand daughter. "This meeting is not held to solve your problems about the veil. Everyone going there must wear the veil and observe the dress code better than ever," said Bojnourdi.
The regime's officials briefed the participants on how to answer questions on human rights, but told them to maintain silence regarding equal rights between men and women and about violence against women, if they faced lots of questions in these regards.
The regime's officials are particularly wary of any encounters between their women participants and the women members of the Mojahedin and the Iranian Resistance. "It will be a disaster if they cannot answer well," the mullahs say.
NCR Committee on the Rights and Freedoms of Women - Beijing September 7, 1995
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