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RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have stepped up their monitoring of commercial and recreational venues, shutting dozens of cafes, restaurants, and other businesses across the country they say were failing to comply with the mandatory head-scarf law.
Anger over the hijab law has boiled over since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 in police custody over an alleged hijab infraction. Women have taken to the streets in growing numbers without the head scarf in protest of the government’s policies. The unrest has tapped into broader discontent over the regime’s corruption, economic mismanagement, and oppression of Iranians.
As part of a brutal and sometimes deadly crackdown on dissent, the government has looked to enforce the law amid one of the biggest threats to the Islamic regime since 1979.
The closing of businesses has been met with resistance from women and the growing trend of refusing to wear the hijab has reached such an extent that Abdolhossein Khosropour, the secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, noted last month that “women without a mandatory hijab should be arrested, but due to the large number of these women, it is not possible to do so.”
The cities affected in the most recent wave of closures include Bandar Abbas, Mashhad, Tehran, Islamshahr, Eshtehard, Parand, Rasht, and Motel Qu.
The hijab became compulsory for women and girls over the age of 9 in 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The move triggered protests that were swiftly crushed by the new regime. Many women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.
In the face of unrest, some religious and government figures have repeatedly advocated for a tougher stance by the government against offenders, even going as far as encouraging a “fire-at-will” approach against noncompliant women.
Resistance to the hijab is likely to increase further, analysts say, as it is seen now as a symbol of the state’s repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.
