Iran’s Hardline Push to Reinstate Mandatory Hijab Meets Persistent Women’s Defiance

Hard-line clerics and conservative politicians have intensified calls to re-impose strict compulsory-hijab rules. The Tehran prosecutor’s office announced it will take “serious action” against alleged “indecency” violations in cafés, restaurants and clothing shops. Authorities have closed at least seven cafés and restaurants in Tehran and ten in South Khorasan Province for failing to enforce the dress code, according to HRANA.

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Article 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code criminalizes women appearing in public without “Islamic hijab.” The 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police sparked the “Woman Life Freedom” movement, leaving a lasting legacy of resistance among young women. The current push occurs while Iran is engaged in an armed conflict with the United States, a situation hardliners claim justifies stricter moral policing.

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• June 15 – Video shows young women walking in downtown Tehran without headscarves.

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• July 19 – HRANA reports the closure of cafés and restaurants in Tehran for non-compliance.

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• Recent weeks – Tehran’s prosecutor’s office establishes a new “moral-security” department staffed by twelve judges to target hijab violations and “immoral” online content.

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• Café closures: 7 in Tehran and 10 in South Khorasan.

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• Social-media repression: HRANA documented blocked accounts for defying dress codes; the moral-security office claims arrests of two influencers for mocking religious ceremonies.

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• Legal penalties: Article 638 remains the sole codified basis for hijab enforcement; a harsher 2024 law expanding penalties was halted by the Supreme National Security Council.

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• Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, Tehran Friday-prayer leader, warned of “organized attempts to promote indecency.”

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• Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of *Kayhan*, framed enforcement as a legal duty and religious mission.

Iran's hardliners push to reinstate hijab enforcement as women resist

• Tehran’s prosecutor’s office pledged “serious action” against establishments violating modesty standards.

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• Ali Salehi, head of the moral-security office, said the unit will monitor cyberspace and take legal measures against stores selling “unconventional clothing.”

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• President Masoud Pezeshkian, a moderate, argued cultural change cannot be achieved through law.

Iran's Negotiators Urge End to War With U.S., but Hardliners Resist

• Former MP Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi urged officials to prioritize inflation and livelihoods over dress-code enforcement.

CNN

Social-media videos show groups of women riding scooters and motorcycles without headscarves in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, despite a formal ban on women’s motor-bike use. A 60-year-old Tehran resident told CNN that girls are now seen in crop tops and shorts, and that headscarves are “practically no longer a thing.”

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• Legal interpretation: Dadbaan’s claim of insufficient legal grounding conflicts with Salehi’s assertion that the moral-security office operates within the law.

The Jerusalem Post

• Definition of hijab: Article 638 lacks a precise definition, leaving enforcement standards ambiguous.

Iran's hardliners push to reinstate hijab enforcement as women resist

• Enforcement data: No comprehensive statistics are available on the total number of establishments inspected or individuals detained for hijab violations.

CNN

The moral-security prosecutor’s office is expected to continue monitoring cafés, retailers and online content, though no timeline for further actions has been announced. The previously approved 2024 law expanding penalties remains on hold, leaving the scope of future enforcement uncertain.

The Jerusalem Post