In spite of a mass rebellion against the mandatory hijab and oppressive policies against women, Iran's President has accused the West of manipulating the issue of women's rights.

In a typical regime slanted speech, Ebrahim Raisi claimed on Monday that Westerners “are not genuinely advocating for women's rights or human rights,” meanwhile the government's repressive measures continue to deepen, with punishments against hijab rebels including fines, imprisonment and bans from public spaces.

Speaking at a festival in Tehran, Raisi went as far as to claim that "Iran considers itself a champion of human rights", ignoring the Women, Life, Freedom movement which has grown in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini who died in morality police custody for the inappropriate wearing of her hijab.

Since the inception of the movement, tens of thousands of girls and women have chosen to remove their compulsory hijabs. The Iranian government aims to criminalize hijab defiance, but no branch of the government wants to bear sole responsibility for the potential societal complications arising from such a provocative action.

Innumerable women have been imprisoned and sexually abused as a state-sanctioned punishment across Iran as state crackdowns have become harsher as the last year of uprising continued. New 'hijab and chastity' laws are set to come into force with ever more strict punishments for hijab rebels.

Human rights advocates have warned that the implementation of this law could result in increased violence, harassment, and arbitrary detentions of women and girls in Iran, and the United Nations has branded it gender apartheid.