Overview
- Enforcement of Iran’s compulsory hijab remains uneven across cities, with routine street-level clampdowns largely absent but targeted arrests and closures continuing.
- Hard-line newspapers, judiciary figures and Basij commanders have intensified calls this month for urgent, stricter enforcement of dress codes.
- Senior officials have publicly urged restraint, arguing that a wide crackdown would risk mass unrest while the country is at war and under severe economic pressure.
- The state has both prosecuted women and dissidents for dress violations and selectively used unveiled or loosely veiled images of women in nationalist propaganda.
- The issue traces back to the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, which sparked nationwide 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests and shifted public attitudes, especially among young, social-media‑connected Iranians who now often defy hijab rules in public.