LATEST: Labor Ministry Challenges Tehran Mayor’s Plan for Gender Segregation in Offices

Despite the repeated insistence of Iran’s regime that opposition leaders cannot be freed — “These leaders of sedition must…be made to pay for their great sins” — the campaign to end the 41-month house arrests of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard continues.

On Sunday, Iran Prosecutor General Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said the three “committed a great crime” by challenging the outcome of the 2009 Presidential election, in which Mousavi and Karroubi were candidates, and calling for justice and rights amid mass protests: “(They) have to be held accountable for it.”

However, conservative MP Ali Motahari, who has pursued the campaign for freedom in Parliament and in a meeting with the Supreme Leader, refused to accept the declaration. Instead, he published an open letter in Khabar Online — a site linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.

Motahari said Ejei’s comments are inconsistent with the Iranian Constitution and accused him of “contradictory views” of Sharia law.

Earlier this month, Ayatollah Khamenei told a delegation led by Motahari that Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard must be held for their “sedition”. He insisted that it was a “mercy” that the three were under house arrest, rather than facing trial and imprisonment for their crimes.

Labor Ministry Challenges Tehran Mayor’s Plan for Gender Segregation in Offices

The Labor Ministry of Labor has ordered Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf to revoke a directive for gender segregation in city offices.

The Ministry said the directive violates the International Labour Convention’s anti-discrimination provisions.

Earlier this month Qalibaf, who stood for the Presidency last year, issued the measure to keep men and women apart in municipal facilities. The Tehran authority also said it was freezing the hiring of women as office managers and secretaries.

Qalibaf defended his directive last week at the Tehran Friday Prayer as a reflection of “religious honour”: “Women should not spend most of their time every day next to men other than their husbands because it harms the foundation of the family.”

The move appears to be another attempt by conservative factions of the establishment to challenge the Rohani administration’s efforts to allow the public greater social freedom.