Ertuğrul Özkök: Iran regime uses women's photos for image after war with US

Ertuğrul Özkök analyzes a photograph taken on the streets of Tehran after Iran ended its war with the US. The image shows a woman with her head uncovered, wearing a pink shirt, walking confidently in front of posters of the late Supreme Leader Khamenei and his son. Özkök argues that this is part of the Iranian regime's effort to improve its image after the conflict.

The column references two articles in the New York Times on the same day, one about Iran and one about Turkey, which Özkök finds coincidental. He notes that recent photos from Iran consistently feature women without headscarves, suggesting a deliberate propaganda strategy by the regime.

Özkök criticizes the regime's hypocrisy, recalling the killing of Mahsa Amini for not wearing a hijab and the massacre of thousands just months ago. He describes the current use of bare-headed women to project national unity as 'disgusting hypocrisy.'

The piece discusses the decline of political Islam, noting that the Muslim Brotherhood has collapsed in Saudi Arabia, Gulf states, Egypt, and Tunisia, leaving only Hamas as a remnant. Iran is described as the last stronghold of political Islam in practice.

Özkök concludes that Iran has not yet created a true nation where everyone can participate freely, but is merely trying to project an image of freedom. The photograph, he says, symbolizes the crumbling of political Islam and the regime's desperate attempt to appear united.