The Iranian Regime Continues To Violently Enforce The Hijab On Women – Despite The Public's Protests

Introduction

Several incidents in Iran in which women and girls suffered harm at the hands of Iranian morality police for wearing their hijab improperly, according to regime dictates, have been at the center of the public discourse in recent months. The proliferation of these incidents reflects the regime's continued determination to force women, including through the use of violence, to wear the hijab, as well as the mobilization of regime supporters to this end.[1] This is despite six months of countrywide protests that had erupted in October 2022 following the death of the young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran following her violent arrest.[2]

This report will review several incidents of violence in morality police arrests in Iran of women and girls for improper hijab wear, and reformists' and regime opponents' criticism of this violent enforcement of the hijab in public spaces.

Violent Arrests Of Women And Girls For Improper Hijab Wear

Although the Hijab and Modestly Law has not been finalized, the modesty police are nevertheless arresting women and girls for wearing their hijabs improperly according to regime guidelines, under a regulation known as the Noor ("Light") Program (for details of this program, see The Women's Protest In Iran 2022-23 – Part II: A Year After The Iranian Regime's Crackdown, It Continues To Force The Hijab On Women, April 1, 2024). Under this program, women are violently covered with blankets, beaten, and shoved into modesty police vans. The arrested women have reported being subjected to curses, beatings, sexual assaults, and extortion of money in exchange for being released.

To view compilation clip of these arrests of women in Iran, click here or below: 

On May 15, 2024, then-interior minister Ahmad Vahidi said about a viral video (the second segment in the above clip) showing morality police removing a woman's clothing while forcibly covering her with a blanket and shoving her into a police van, with her clothes being removed in the struggle: "Police covered this lady with a blanket and acted according to the rules, and what was manifested [in the video] was different than what really happened... I heard that this woman had been warned about the hijab, but that she resisted the enforcement of the law in her wearing of it, and in effect she removed her own clothes."[3] 

Two other incidents recently came to public attention: In one, on August 6, Iran Wire posted on X a video showing a 14-year-old girl violently attacked in a Tehran street by morality police on June 21 for improperly wearing her hijab.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

In the second, Arzo Badri, a 31-year-old mother of two, was shot on July 22 by police who tried to detain her in her car on suspicion that she had violated modesty laws. Badri was hospitalized and comatose after the shooting, and she was left paralyzed after the incident.

Badri had been driving home in the city of Noor, in northern Iran, when police signaled to her to pull over. Her car was on a police list of vehicles subject to confiscation because a woman driving them had been filmed by security cameras without a hijab – a move instituted last year as part of hijab enforcement measures.

According to reports in Iran, several days before the shooting, Badri had been documented driving bareheaded, and her license plate number had been captured by the cameras. When police signaled her to pull over, she tried to flee, and they opened fire on the car. It was reported that she was "paralyzed from the waist down" and that her lungs were affected. She was transferred from a hospital in the north to Tehran "for better medical care" and was placed under security. Anti-regime outlets have reported that the regime had offered her family money and coverage of her flight to Tehran and her medical bills in exchange for dropping their complaint against the police. It was also reported that the family lawyer's request for her medical file was refused – a common police practice aimed at pressuring the families of political prisoners – and the lawyer announced that he was stepping down from the case due to "security threats against him."[4]

Arzo Bardi (Source: Rooziato.com)

It should be recalled that in October 2023, 16-year-old Armita Geravand died after she was attacked by morality police on the Tehran subway (see The Women's Protest In Iran 2022-23 – Part II: A Year After The Iranian Regime's Crackdown, It Continues To Force The Hijab On Women, April 1, 2024).

Sixteen-year-old Armita Geravand was hospitalized in a coma in Tehran after being assaulted by the morality police.

In March 2023, a Basij member was filmed in a grocery store in the city of Mashhad speaking to a mother and her bareheaded daughter, and then dumping a container of yogurt on their heads.

The attacker dumps yogurt on a mother and her daughter.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

Also in March 2024, in Qom, a cleric filmed a young woman without her knowledge in a clinic as her hijab slipped off as she cared for her sick son.

The woman confronts the cleric after he filmed her (source: Iran International, March 9, 2024)

Reformist And Anti-Regime Criticism Of Measures To Suppress Protests And Hijab Enforcement

The continuation of measures to suppress and abuse women after the deaths of the two young women following encounters with the morality police has come under criticism in Iran, with most of it being against the harsh legislation and enforcement and their consequences – the heightened tensions and the incitement of citizens against each other. Many elements accused the regime of this and said that the current situation would lead to anarchy and would harm national security.

Prominent reformist Muhammad Reza Aref, who was appointed by Khamenei to the regime’s Expediency Council, cautioned in April 2023 that the obsession with the hijab issue while citizens suffer in poor living conditions will exacerbate the polarization of society. He even called for recognizing that the young generation's lifestyle is more modern and less religious, and that confronting or threatening this generation will only deepen the rift.

The March 2024 incident of the filming of the mother in the Qom clinic was harshly criticized in media, amid the argument that such acts are an affront to Islam. Critics said that in this way, clerics are making the public hate Islam. For example, an article on the moderate conservative site Asr-e Iran stated: "No one has harmed the institution of religion as much as some turban-wearers have harmed and damaged it!" The article even called for punishing the cleric for invading the woman's privacy, on the basis of Iranian law, to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Critics also spoke against the regime's new policy, which delegates enforcement to owners of businesses, who are struggling to make a living in poor economic conditions. They accused the regime of focusing on minor issues at the expense of addressing the growing cost of living, which is the worst Iran has ever known.

Criticism also came from clerics, including the leader of the Sunni minority in Balochistan, Mawlana Abdolhamid, who mocked the regime for using advanced technology for hijab enforcement while doing nothing to apprehend the anti-women's education extremists who have been poisoning schoolgirls. Abdulhamid also spoke out against the killing and maiming of demonstrators by regime forces during the anti-hijab protests, saying that people should be allowed to exercise their legal right to protest.

Shi'ite Islamic scholar Mohammed Mousavi recently came out against the Iranian regime's religious zealotry in enforcing the hijab, stating that Islamic tradition disallows this. He said that "the Quran tells men to guard their eyes," but not to force women to wear hijabs (see MEMRI TV clip below).

In addition, some voiced fear of all-out war between religious and secular citizens as the regime encourages civilians to take the law into their own hands and personally enforce the wearing of hijab.

Iranian Islamic Researcher Mohammad Mousavi: "Our Religious Extremists Are More Dangerous Than A Nuclear Bomb"; "If Hijabs Were So Important To God, He Would Have Created Women With Chadors"; "The Quran Instructs Men To Guard Their Eyes… I Do Not Have The Right To Take A Club And Beat An Iranian Woman On The Head, And Tell Her That She Has To Cover Her Head”

One of the harshest criticisms of the enforcement of the hijab in Iran was expressed by a Shiite religious scholar and Islamic researcher named Mohammad Mousavi. In a March 11, 2024 interview he gave to the DidarNews YouTube channel, Mousavi condemned the religious extremism in Iran and said that the regime should establish certain regions in the country that do not have any attire regulations. Drawing on his expertise as an Islamic researcher, he said that Islamic tradition does not allow clerics to force women to wear hijabs in the way that is done in Iran, and he expressed opposition to religious zealotry, asserting that it has killed more people than COVID-19 or the world wars. He said that religious extremism in Iran is even more dangerous than a nuclear bomb.

The following are key excerpts from Mousavi’s interview:

"The Lord has given human beings the ability to make choices. People have full agency and ability to choose what they like and to follow their own path. If the hijab were so important to God, He could have created women with a chador... There is no tradition that says that when I see a woman without a hijab...I cannot even say without a hijab – a woman with a loose hijab... No tradition says that I should go to her and tell her to tighten her scarf. The Quran has ordered men to control their own eyes. That's it. I do not have the right to take a club and beat an Iranian woman on the head, and tell her that she has to cover her head or to wear a chador."

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:

Asr-e Iran On The Qom Filming Of A Woman Without Her Knowledge: "Nobody Has Harmed The Institution Of Religion As Much As It Has Been Harmed By Some People Who Wear Turbans!"

On March 10, 2024, the moderate conservative Aser-i Iran news website published an article criticizing the man who took pictures of a woman without her consent in Qom (see above), stating that in this incident, an Islamic cleric harmed the public perception of Islam. The article called for the man to be punished for violating the woman's privacy, which is against Iranian law. It also criticized the Iranian regime's hypocrisy in having published photos of women with their heads uncovered attending the February 11, 2024 Revolution Day marches and the March 1, 2024 elections with the goal of showing that these events appeal to the entire Iranian population.

The following is a translation of the key parts of the article:

"The subject of this article is the pathetic incident that took place at a clinic in Qom. As published in the media, a young cleric took pictures of a young woman who didn't have a hijab on properly. The woman, who was holding a baby, noticed this and demanded that he delete the pictures, sparking controversy…

"What exactly was the intent of the young cleric accused of taking pictures of the lady who wasn't wearing a hijab? Isn't the maximum obligation incumbent upon every person to give a verbal warning, and isn't the most he can do from a legal and Islamic law perspective is prevent that lady from doing bad? If so, what was his reason for taking pictures of her?

"Is it appropriate for clerics to rebuke him for undermining their honor by taking pictures of a woman? Did he really learn for years in a religious seminary, only to then go take pictures of women with no hijab? Nobody has harmed the institution of religion as much as it has been harmed by some people who wear turbans [i.e. clerics]!

"The serious concern is that the ridiculous thing this man did will be considered an example of 'enjoining good and forbidding evil [Quran 9:17],' and people will support him instead of punishing him for causing trouble to women. Article 619 of the Islamic Penal Code states: 'One who bothers children or women in public or on the roadways, or who insults them verbally or with expressions, shall be imprisoned for two to six months and shall be lashed up to (74) times.'

"There is no doubt that taking pictures of a woman without her permission is a clear and undeniable example of violating her privacy and her honor. This is a violation of women's honor that if not punished, then tomorrow everyone will be able to take pictures of women and girls in the street and state: 'Why didn't you do anything to that guy who wore a turban and took a picture of that woman?' The authorities insist that the law should be enforced against that lady without a hijab, and they should be told to also enforce the law with regard to that man…

"It is very ugly and disgusting to take pictures of women with no hijab [to demonstrate] that they were participating in Revolution Day marches and in the election, and then to document the crime of not wearing the hijab! Those who claim to defend the regime must at least defend the honor of the Islamic Republic [regime]."[5]

Asr-e Iran On Yogurt Incident: "Telling Storeowners To Ensure That Their Customers Wear Hijabs, To Not Serve Women Who Are Not Wearing Hijabs, And To Kick Them Out Of The Store Is A Clear Example Of Preparing The Field For Conflict"

On April 2, 2023, Aser-i Iran published an article criticizing the Iranian regime for making civilians responsible for enforcing the hijab codes, on the basis of the Quranic injunction to "enjoin good and forbid evil [Quran 9:17]." The article said that the man who dumped yogurt on the women's heads in the Mashhad yogurt incident (see above) should be punished severely so that such incidents do not repeat themselves, and it criticized the regime for instructing businessowners and public institutions to not serve women who are not wearing hijabs (as also mentioned by Iran's interior minister on April 18, 2023).[6] The article asserted that the regime is inciting civilians against one another and is creating conflict around the subject of the hijab, and it said that this is an unnecessary conflict, since if the regime is unable to enforce hijab regulations, then certainly civilians who are concerned about earning a living will be unable to do so. The article warned against the extremism of passersby and called on the regime to focus on peoples' real problems, such as the economy. It added that to fan the flames of the past on the subject of the hijab will certainly not solve the issues.

The following is a translation of they key parts of the article:

"There are only a few people who haven't seen the video of the man who entered the store and dumped a tub of yogurt on the heads of two women after arguing with them. This video [will] certainly go down in the history of contemporary developments in Iran and it will be referred to by many.

"In this context, we can note the following six points:

"1. If one of the Kharijites who had rebelled against [Imam] Ali [had] entered a dairy store in the Mashhad area to rebuke two women for not wearing hijabs, and were they carrying a tub of yogurt instead of their swords, there is no doubt that they would have hit the women with the yogurt in order to get them to fulfill the hijab obligation. The Kharijites did not have horns and tails – this is exactly what they looked like.

"2. When those who have been instructed to enjoin good and forbid evil [in accordance with Quran 9:17] think this way – that is, that what they say must take place by any means possible – the result is this ugly scene! The important condition in enjoining good and forbidding evil is that we must think about 'the likelihood of influence.' Is it really possible to convince a woman who has chosen a certain type of head covering by telling her a sentence such as 'mind your hijab'?! This condition has been written in clear Farsi and it has been repeated many times, and only an ignoramus would not understand such a simple matter, and ignoramuses are always those who cause the greatest amount of damage.

"3. Even if you were to sit for years in the Mossad planning room and think up ways to incite the Iranian people against each other, you wouldn't come up with a better idea than turning the head covering worn by half of Iranians – that is, women – into a 'problem' and using religious sentiment as a basis for conflict among the Iranian people. Telling storeowners to ensure that their customers wear hijabs, to not serve women who are not wearing hijab, and to kick them out of the store is a clear example of preparing the field for conflict. It is surprising that the government with all its power and means – from culture to enforcement – cannot shape the hijab issue the way it wants to, yet it expects storeowners and taxi drivers who are worried about providing bread for their families to do so?!"

"4. Thank God that this incident took place in a dairy store and everything was done with a tub of yogurt. If it had taken place in a hardware store or a chemical store, we could only estimate what the 'restless hand' would have used – a hammer? An axe? Acid?! God had mercy on us!

"5. We hope that the case of this man will be taken care of comprehensively and transparently. This ruling, whatever it will be, will be more than just a judicial ruling, but also part of our contemporary history.

"6. Official elements should not think that inflaming the matter of the hijab will cause people's main problems to go away, such as high prices and inflation. If we consider last year's prices, for the cost of one tub of yogurt, [the man] could have struck the women with two tubs of yogurt, to increase the educational effect! (This is a simple example of the cost of living, so that people like the yogurt-dumper can understand!) Official elements must know that people's livings will not be removed from the list of public demands by means of political games – they must be accountable."[7]

Asr-e Iran: "Pitting Civilians Against Each Other Because Of The Hijab Is A Betrayal Of Unity And National Security"

Shortly after the yogurt incident in Mashhad, Aser-i Iran published another article on April 9, 2023 – which was the day when Iran's Chief of Police announced a major hijab enforcement operation – criticizing ultra-religious elements in Iran who said that religious Iranians might personally confront those who oppose the hijab if the regime fails to properly enforce the matter. The article said that such statements undermine Iran's national unity and security and may cause people to take the law into their own hands. It also said that secular Iranians would not oppose a conflict with religious Iranians, guaranteeing the outbreak of anarchy. In addition, the article said that such a stance might create a situation in which women who wear the hijab might stop doing so in order to avoid appearing aligned with the religious extremists. Moreover, it called on the government to prevent such polarization among the Iranian public surrounding the issue of the hijab in light of the fateful implications, and to instead encourage hijab wear by strengthening religious faith.

The following is a translation of the key parts of the article:

"Recently, some people have fanned the fires of conflict between women who wear hijab and women who don't, and people have said such things as: 'If the regime institutions do not fulfill their obligation, the patience of the religious people will run out and they will join the conflict themselves.' Not only are these things unrelated to the [Quranic] injunction to enjoin good and forbid evil – but they openly contradict national security and unity. All the senior ayatollahs have written that one of the conditions for enjoining good and forbidding evil is to [consider] the [action's] influence [on the public], and without this there is no obligation [to act]. Experience has proven that if a stranger in the street warns a woman who is not wearing the Islamic hijab, in most cases not only is this not effective, but it sometimes even leads to tensions and conflict. Hence, from an Islamic law perspective we can say that the injunction to [actively] enjoin good and forbid evil is not obligatory with regard to the hijab, since such actions are not effective.

"But this is not the main issue in the current debate. The point here is that when we encourage strictly observant people and religious women to engage in conflict with women who are wearing a loose hijab or not wearing a hijab at all, then the enforcement of the law – which should be done by the government – is now in the hands of the public, and anybody can view themselves as enforcers of the law and even of Islamic law, and to act as they see fit on the basis of their own considerations. For instance, they may feel the need to dump a tub of yogurt on the head of an innocent woman, or to strike her on the face with whatever object is in reach…

"Those who encourage or incite women to conflict are either such fools that they do not expect the other side to respond and think that the conscience-free [i.e. secular] people will quietly obey or flee in the face of actions on the part of the religious people, or that they are the enemies of reason and know that every action has a reaction and that one side does not always silently obey the other side. It is very likely that violent responses will be created and that society will enter a new phase of tension, as we have seen in certain cases.

"Another point is that when others [i.e. private citizens] are entrusted with dealing with the phenomenon of women not wearing the hijab and when people engage in conflict with one another, those who are most negatively affected are women who choose to wear the hijab out of faith and their own [free] will. The fact is that when some veiled women confront unveiled women, all the veiled women in the country become exposed to this conflict. To state this more clearly: The actions of part of the nation against women who do not wear the hijab can lead to a response on the part of those who do wear the hijab and who do not believe in conflict. In turn, such a situation can cause some women who wear the chador to choose a different [i.e. looser or more revealing] covering in order to avoid conflict.

"The continuation of such a situation can completely polarize society and pit people against one another, and we would see many pointless conflicts every day. This scenario is the greatest betrayal of our national unity. We have already said that the implementation of any religious matter depends on religious faith, and if the Islamic regime wants the hijab to be worn as a religious matter, then it must strengthen religious beliefs – conflict is not the solution to the problem, since if it were, this would have been solved for good in the first years after the [1979 Islamic] Revolution, when very harsh battles were waged against women who did not wear hijabs! If for any reason there is a basis for conflict, the government must intervene directly (which will of course be ineffective) and avoid pitting people against one another, since this would have difficult and long-term implications for our national unity and security.

"To the ladies and gentlemen who make the decisions:

"These [Iranian] people have lived together in tranquility for thousands of years with different traditions. Do not destroy this historic era by tearing the people apart."[8]

Reformist Member Of The Expediency Council Mohammad Reza Aref On The Regime's Threats To Civilians: Don't Forcibly Enforce The Hijab – This Will Have The Opposite Effect

On April 9, 2023, the day that the Iranian chief of police announced that the police will launch a major hijab enforcement operation, prominent reformist politician and Expediency Council[9] member Mohammad Reza Aref, expressed harsh criticism of the increased enforcement. He said that using force to enforce the hijab regulations will have the opposite of the desired effect, explaining that the regime must understand today's young generation, which has chosen a different and less religious lifestyle. He warned that focusing on the hijab issue while people are suffering from low quality of life due to the regime's failures will only increase polarization in Iranian society.

The following is an excerpt from Aref’s statement:

"All those who desire Iran's wellbeing must be concerned about preserving our country's territorial integrity, and this can only be achieved through national solidarity. We must admit that we have not appreciated our countrymen who were truly there at the harshest times and in various fields, and it is even more upsetting that these honorable people are being threatened. We must accept the fact that the new generation has chosen a different [i.e. less religiously observant] lifestyle. Confronting and threatening this generation will surely only deepen the rifts. As people are suffering from decreased quality of life, the harsh conditions of which are a result of the unified government's lack of effectiveness, confronting their lifestyles and using forcible implementation measures will have no result other than intensifying the polarized atmosphere in our society. The tragic events of the last year must be a lesson for everyone, and particularly for the relevant [official] elements and institutions that must understand that you cannot handle the issue of the hijab with force, since this will have the opposite of the desired effect. The same people who raise the government officials to their thrones can also bring them down from the throne to the carpet."[10]

Sunni Islamic Scholar And Zahedan Mosque Preacher From Sistan & Baluchistan Molavi Abdulhamid: Use The Hijab-Enforcement Cameras To Investigate The Poisonings In Girls' Schools!

Molavi Abdulhamid, a prominent Sunni Islamic scholar from Iran's Sitan & Baluchistan province who also serves as the imam of a mosque in the city of Zahedan, also criticized the regime's hijab enforcement measures. During an April 14, 2023 Friday sermon – one day before the beginning of the Iranian police's hijab enforcement operation – Molavi mocked the Iranian regime for using its resources, including advanced technological tools, to enforce hijab wear instead of addressing real problems, such as the safety of the Iranian public. Giving an example, he mentioned the phenomenon of poisonings in girls' schools that are aimed at preventing girls from getting an education.

The following is a translation of an excerpt from Abdulhamid's sermon:

"It is surprising that in a country with so many security measures such as monitoring systems and various cameras, they haven't yet identified who is behind the poisoning incidents at the [girls'] schools. Meanwhile, a senior official [i.e. Iran's chief of police] recently said that when it comes to the hijab, they are using face recognition in the streets by means of advanced and smart technologies. How is it that you [i.e. the regime] are so meticulous and are investing so much effort in the matter of the hijab, yet you haven't yet managed to identify the burglars who are spreading poison in our schools and poisoning little girls? Who would have believed that you would fail in this matter, even though you are, thank God, so good at identifying people."[11]

Molavi Abdulhamid. Source: Iran International), April 14, 2023.

Molavi Abdulhamid: Nobody Was Blinded, Had Their Legs Broken, Or Was Killed At The Protests In France; Only Autocratic Countries Do Not Allow Their People To Protest; It Is Forbidden To Shoot At Or To Blind Protestors; Protesting Is A Natural Right

In July 7, 2023 speech, Abdulhamid expressed even harsher criticism of the Iranian regime's harsh suppression of protests. He compared the protests in Iran to the protests by France's Algerian minority, which involved much violence and destruction of property on the part of the protestors, and he pointed out that no protestor in France was blinded, had his legs broken, or was killed due to the police using excessive force. He said that only autocratic countries like Iran do not allow their citizens to protest, and he called for a change in the regime's policy that is robbing people of their right to protest. He also mentioned the United Nations report about the regime's harsh suppression measures and execution of protestors, and he called for the gates of Iran's prisons to be opened and to prevent human rights violations that contradict Islamic law. It should be noted that the livestream of Abdulhamid's speech was cut off by Iranian authorities, which interfered with the internet connections as it had also done in previous weeks.

The following is a translation of the key points of Abdulhamid's speech:

"The uprising in France apparently began after the [French] regime killed a young French-Algerian boy. The citizens protested this. The French youth are already dissatisfied, but this incident was what sparked the protests. Five thousand cars and 500 buildings were set on fire and 250 police stations were attacked. Yet despite all this, nobody was blinded, had their legs broken, or was killed. This means that the police avoided harming and killing people. I'm not saying that there aren't any problems in Europe or France, but the police [there] did not shoot or kill citizens during the protests. This point should be examined.

"The world is split into two: democratic countries with free regimes, and autocratic countries. Only autocratic countries do not allow their people to protest. Protests happen in democratic countries, but people don't get killed… There is no place in the world where the law is 100% correct, since the laws are based on human thoughts and they have errors. With the exception of autocratic countries, everywhere in the world, mistaken laws are cancelled and changed. Hence, in Iran we must examine the laws in short intervals and change them if needed. Even though the [Iranian] constitution has not been touched for 44 years, protest is considered the people's right. Workers, pensioners, teachers, students, and women must have the ability to speak out and demand their rights. Protestors must not be shot or blinded.

"The first report by the UNHRC's committee that investigated the suppression of the protests in Iran – which mentioned that protestors were executed, their limbs were injured, they were blinded, they were arrested and subsequently tortured and beaten – made me sad… For a long time, I have called on the state authorities to open the gates of the prisons, including Evin Prison [which houses political prisoners], before human rights observers, since if any human rights violations are taking place in these prisons, this certainly violates Islamic law. Prisoners must be treated in accordance with the Iranian constitution, which says that no official can beat or torture a prisoner. Confessions made under duress are not admissible according to the law and according to Islamic law, and no official can view them as legitimate. If after a report we find that any officer did something illegal, he must be arrested, along with the judge who violated the laws and the principles of sharia law. The government must stop its radical forces…"[12]

* Ayelet Savyon is Director of the Iran Media Studies project; N. Katirachi is a Research Fellow at MEMRI.