DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On the streets of Iranian cities, it has become common to see a woman walking without the mandatory head covering, or hijab, on the second anniversary of the Jan. 25 revolution. Mahsa Amini’s death and mass protests The approach has raised eyebrows.
No government official or study acknowledges the phenomenon, which began as Iran entered the hot summer months and its overburdened electricity system suffered power cuts. But on social media, videos can be seen of people filming neighborhood streets or just talking about a normal day in their lives, and women and girls walking with their long hair over their shoulders, especially after sunset.
FILE – An Iranian woman without a mandatory head covering, or hijab, flashes the victory sign as she walks through the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
The challenge comes despite what UN investigators have described as “extensive repressive measures and policies” by Iran’s theocracy to punish them — despite the absence of a recent catalyst like Amini’s death to galvanize the protesters.
New country Reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian Iran campaigned on a promise to end harassment of women by the morality police. But ultimate power in the country remains in the hands of the country’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has said in the past that “revealing the hijab is religiously and politically forbidden.”
For some devout Muslim women, the headscarf is a sign of piety before God and modesty before men outside their families. In Iran, the hijab — and the all-encompassing black abaya worn by some women — has long been a political symbol as well.
The UN fact-finding mission on Iran warned on Friday that “meaningful institutional change and accountability for gross human rights violations, crimes under international law and crimes against humanity remain elusive for victims and survivors, especially women and children.”
FILE – An Iranian woman, without the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, walks in downtown Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Amini, 22, died in hospital on September 16, 2022, after being arrested by the country’s morality police on charges of not wearing the hijab as the authorities wanted. The protests that followed Amini’s death initially began with chants of “Women, Life, Freedom.” However, the protesters’ cries quickly evolved into open calls for revolution against Khamenei.
A months-long security campaign has left more than 500 people dead and more than 22,000 arrested.
Today, passersby on the streets of Tehran, whether in the wealthy northern suburbs or the working-class neighborhoods in the south of the capital, routinely see women without headscarves. This is especially true at dusk, although even in broad daylight on weekends, women can be seen without headscarves in major parks.
Online videos — specifically a subcategory of videos showing walking tours of city streets for those living in rural areas or abroad who want to see life in Tehran’s bustling neighborhoods — feature women without headscarves.
Something that would stop a person in their tracks for decades to come. Islamic Revolution 1979 Now it is not recognized.
“My almost complete courage in not wearing the hijab is Mahsa Amini’s legacy and we have to protect this as an achievement,” said a 25-year-old student at Tehran’s Sharif University, who gave only her first name, Azadeh, for fear of reprisal. “She might have been my age if she hadn’t died.”
But disobedience is still risky. After months of protests, Iran’s morality police are back on the streets.
Scattered videos of women and young girls being beaten by officers have since emerged. In 2023, Iranian teenage girl injured In a mysterious incident on the Tehran metro while not wearing a headscarf, she later died in hospital. In July, activists said Police shoot woman who fled checkpoint In an attempt to avoid having her car impounded for not wearing a hijab.
FILE – An Iranian woman not wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf flashes the victory sign as two women covered from head to toe walk in the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Meanwhile, the government has targeted private businesses where women are seen without the hijab. Surveillance cameras search for unveiled women in vehicles to fine them and impound their cars. The United Nations said the government has gone so far as to use drones to monitor the 2024 Tehran International Book Fair and Kish Island for unveiled women.
However, some see Bezeshkian’s election in July, after helicopter crash killed Hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Mayhelps relieve tensions about the hijab.
“I think the current peaceful environment is part of the situation after Bezeshkian took office,” says Hamed Zarengwi, a 38-year-old bookseller. “In a way, Bezeshkian can convince powerful people that more restrictions do not necessarily make women more devoted to the hijab.”
Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad warned security forces on Wednesday against starting physical confrontations over the hijab.
“We have prosecuted the violators, and we will do so. No one has the right to act inappropriately even if an individual has committed a crime,” Movahedi Azad said, according to Iranian media.
While the government is not directly addressing the increase in women not wearing the hijab, there are other signs that it is recognizing the shifting political landscape. In August, authorities fired a university professor a day after he appeared on state television and disparagingly referred to Amini as “dead.”
Meanwhile, in August, the reformist Ham Mihan newspaper reported on an unpublished survey conducted under the supervision of Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance that found that the hijab had become one of the country’s most important issues—something the country had never seen before.
“This issue has been on people’s minds more than ever,” sociologist Simin Kazemi told the newspaper.
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Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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