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In a call for solidarity with arrested student leader Majid Tavakoli, hundreds of Iranian men have posted pictures of themselves, wearing the veil, on Facebook.

Click here to see the campaign on Facebook.

The background here is that Tavakoli, of Tehran’s Amir Kabir University, was arrested on Monday during the anti-government demonstrations that took place across Iran.

The Fars News Agency published pictures of Tavakoli in a chador, the all enveloping black wrap many women in Iran use to cover themselves.  These websites allege Tavakoli had tried to escape arrest by dressing in women’s garb.  It appeared to be an attempt to portray him as a coward.  Fars is close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Tavakoli was a student leader in 2006 when photos of the President were burned at Amir Kabir University when Ahmadinejad addressed students there.  That was the first really open sign of protest we saw against the Iranian president.  Some suggest Ahmadinejad has it out for Tavakoli, who has already spent time in prison.

The ploy to discredit Tavakoli by portraying him as a coward in a chador has backfired with many of the young—women, who have been a vital part of the protest movement—have objected to the regime’s poking of fun at the chador.  And have asked what shame th... >>>