Alamolhoda, Ahmad

Representative of the Supreme Leader in the province of Razavi Khorasan. Friday prayer leader in Mashhad, the provincial capital. Father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi. He reportedly ordered security forces to block hundreds of women from entering a stadium to watch a soccer game on March 29. The forces "attacked [the women] with tear gas and pepper sprays, leaving several women injured".¹

Has reportedly prohibited many "social and cultural events [and activities] in Mashhad, including concerts, playing electronic games, wearing certain type of clothes, riding bicycles and motorcycles and mountaineering by women..."²

Has vociferously pushed for stronger enforcement of mandatory hijab and frequently criticizes women for societal ills. He said "bad-hijab women give way to widespread promiscuity, abnormal sexual tendencies and Satanic liberties" and that "the enemy which is against Iran's power and progress in technology, is behind the sedition that propagates the idea of doing away with hijab as a prelude to uprooting Islam in Iran".³

On Sept. 23, 2022—one week after Mahsa Amini's death—he said, ""Hijab is the most important issue in Islam. The enemies of Islam wish to promote a lifestyle without hijab." Reportedly, he "praised the police force as 'the pivot of the authority of the regime for upholding hijab,' without mentioning the murder of Mahsa Amini".⁴

On Oct. 14, 2022, he reportedly "accused the critics [of the regime's enforcement of mandatory hijab] of undermining the holy Koran and Iran’s constitutional law. He also accused the protesters of not believing in God and his prophet; an accusation that could entail the death sentence for the protesters".⁵

"Ahmad Alam-Al Hoda is the Friday imam of Mashhad and representative of Khorasan Razavi province in the Assembly of Experts. In his speeches and in the media, he participates in the propagation of hate against women, demonstrators and religious minorities. Alam-Al Hoda is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran."⁶ 

Sources:

1. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202204076000

2. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202204076000

3. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202210089796

4. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202209244911

5. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202210159406

6. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R0645&from=EN