Iran hesitates to clamp down on defiance of headscarf rules as war and economic pressures mount
Hard-liners are urging tougher enforcement even as authorities back away, after protests since 2022 killed more than 500 people, officials and activists said.
- In Tehran, enforcement of mandatory hijab rules has eased dramatically in recent years, with women increasingly appearing in public without headscarves. Authorities have largely backed off strict enforcement to avoid public unrest amid ongoing wartime conditions.
- Following the Sept. 16, 2022, death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, which triggered mass protests, a security crackdown killed more than 500 people. Mandatory hijab laws, a defining tenet of clerical rule since 1979, saw enforcement decline to maintain peace.
- Lawyer Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a former political prisoner, described the choice to forgo headscarves as "civil disobedience toward the government." Activist Pouran Nazemi noted officials remain hesitant to enforce dress codes because, "They are afraid of protests."
- Basij chief Hossein Taeb urged stricter enforcement last week to protect "internal cohesion," according to the semiofficial news agency Mehr. However, politician Gholam Ali Haddad Adel warned, "We can't enter into that front as we ought to because of wartime conditions."
- A hard-line newspaper recently labeled the removal of headscarves "promoting nudity and permissiveness" and a "security threat." Meanwhile, the office of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has remained publicly silent since succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died Feb. 28.
43 Articles
43 Articles
Iran hesitates to clamp down on defiance of headscarf rules
Women sit at outdoor cafes without headscarves and wearing crop tops. Men in shorts and women in leggings exercise together in parks. At sidewalk concerts, women stop to dance and literally let their hair down.
Iran hesitates to clamp down on defiance of headscarf rules as war and economic pressures mount – WTOP News
Women sit at outdoor cafes without headscarves and wearing crop tops. Men in shorts and women in leggings exercise together in parks. At sidewalk concerts, women stop to dance and literally let their hair down. The scenes from the Iranian capital of Tehran, shared in social media videos, point to how dramatically enforcement of social...
Iran hesitates to clamp down on defiance of headscarf rules as war and economic pressures mount - THE LOCAL REPORT ARTICLES
Women sit at outdoor cafes without headscarves and wearing crop tops. Men in shorts and women in leggings exercise together in parks. At sidewalk concerts, women stop to dance and literally let their hair down. Iran hesitates to clamp down on defiance of headscarf rules as war and economic pressures mount The scenes from the […]
Tehran: Women sit in outdoor cafes without headscarves and wear crop tops. Men in shorts and women in leggings exercise together in parks. Women stop, dance, and literally let their hair down at concerts on the sidewalks. These scenes from Iran's capital, Tehran, shared in social media videos, illustrate how dramatically the enforcement of social restrictions in the Islamic Republic has eased in recent years. This is partly due to the death of 2…
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