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Ashton Assareh

PROFILE/DESCRIPTION

Article text courtesy of nytimes.com - Unveiled and Rising Up: How Protests in Iran Cut to the Heart of National Identity

The hijabs women are forced to wear have long been a sign of the government’s power. Now, the women-led protests have made them a symbol of a clashing vision of Iran’s future.

 

Long before protests started spreading across Iran last month, the hijab — the Islamic head scarf that Iranian law requires women to wear in public, along with loose-fitting modest clothing — had been at the center of conflicts over national identity, religious authority and political power for decades.