Last weekend, Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s Majles (parliament) criticized IranWire after it published a satirical video by a citizen journalist. Without specifically mentioning the site by name, Larijani called on the press to respect the sanctity of parliament and avoid mocking it in any way.
The unknown filmmaker, who goes by the name of Marzieh Haghighi, called the video “A Special Day in Parliament", and poked fun at a discussion in parliament about women wearing tights under their manteux—and the best way of preventing such a practice.
Member of Parliament Ali Motahari (who also happens to be Larijani’s brother-in-law), said wearing tights in public is equivalent to “parading immorality on the streets.” He then went on to present a slideshow of women wearing tights in cities around Iran, causing an unprecedented level of commotion, not least because parliamentary discussions are rumored to be so boring that MPs have been known to doze off. On this occasion, however, it was reported that all MPs remained wide awake.
Speaker Larijani later warned against showing photographs of women during parliamentary sessions because it might lead to members of the public using them for their own purposes. “Parliament is an important aspect of our republic and shouldn't be made fun of," Larijani said. The film's Persian-language captions specifically refer to the now infamous "tights day" in parliament, alhough the video does not feature the same images shown to MPs.
The fact that the young female journalist used the opportunity to make a comment on parliamentary proceedings clearly flustered Larijani and other senior parliamentary figures.
At the end of the video, the film informs viewers they can see more photographs of women wearing tights by visiting the parliament's website.
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