One of Iran’s top Shiite leaders, Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Chirazi, said he “does not consider violence and pressure to be effective on the hijab issue,” the official Irna news agency reported. Chirazi, known for his conservative views, made these statements in the city of Qom: “The president and the ministers must know that they are in a difficult situation. It is true that the enemy is very active, but we are not in a dead end.” . The Minister of Tourism, Ezzatollah Zarghami, called on Wednesday to be more tolerant regarding the use of the veil in public spaces. On January 10, the Judicial Authority indicated, however, that it wanted to reapply a law that provides for sanctions such as exile for women who do not respect the obligation to wear the veil.