ALBAWABA - Unconfirmed reports claimed that Rostam Ghasemi, Iranian minister of roads and urban development, had submitted his resignation letter to President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday. However, it has not yet been approved by the Iranian government.
Social media users claimed that Rostam Ghasemi, who served as the minister of petroleum from 2011 to 2013, resigned following leaked photos of him along with his non-hijabi girlfriend in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur. The photos are believed to date back to 2011.
رستم قاسمی استعفا داد
— Azadeh Mokhtari (@AzadeMokhtari) November 13, 2022
رستم قاسمی وزیر راه و شهرسازی استعفای خود را نوشته اما هنوز به تایید دولت نرسیده است./ دانشجو pic.twitter.com/I00EK9otfw
Translation: "Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, has written his resignation, but it has not yet been approved by the government."
Photos of Rostam Ghasemi accompanied by his non-hijabi girlfriend in Malaysia have been circulating the internet for weeks after the start of the Iranian protests.
Iranians have widely criticized the leaked photos of the minister and his girlfriend, who was seen without her hijab, especially after the death of an Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police over strict hijab rules in the country.
Images taken in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia in 2011 show Brigadier General Rostam Ghasemi, an #IRGC commander who is now Minister of Roads and Urban Development of #Iran. His regime forces #Iranian women to wear Hijab while Ghasemi's girlfriend is an exemption! This is Hypocrisy! pic.twitter.com/drKvdXOM0W
— Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) October 31, 2022
Iran has been facing wide, violent anti-government protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was killed in the custody of the morality police. Mahsa was arrested on Sept. 13 for wearing an 'improper hijab' and beaten up then she passed away after 3 days.
Since the start of the protests, Iranian women were seen cutting their hair or burning their hijabs calling for more rights and freedom as well as they urged for the end of compulsory hijab rules imposed by the Islamic Republic.
