As more Iranian Women shuns Hijab, the country is transforming.

Oct 2025 : The turning point was the anti-establishment protests that rocked Iran in 2022, following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for violating the hijab law. Women were at the forefront of the protests, during which some removed and burned their hijab. The demonstrations snowballed into the biggest threat to the authorities in decades, with some protesters calling for an end to clerical rule.

In the wake of the protests, the authorities initially attempted to double down on their enforcement of the hijab, which has been mandatory since soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In 2024, the Hard-line lawmakers passed a new controversial law to enforce the hijab under which violators would face lengthy prison terms, hefty fines, and travel bans. But wary of provoking unrest, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council suspended the implementation of the Hijab And Chastity law.

Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, which serves as an advisory body to the supreme leader, said on 03rd October, 2025 that the new hijab law was unenforceable, “no compulsory hijab law in force”.

His comments triggered an uproar among hard-liners. But they also underscored the reality on the ground in major cities where the authorities have relaxed their enforcement of the hijab, a key pillar of the Islamic republic.

Local media has observed that the number of women ditching the Islamic head scarf had increased on the streets and in cafes and restaurants in recent years. An Iranian journalist, said women’s shunning of the hijab has been gradual.

Following the 2022 protests, women who did not wear a hijab kept a head scarf in their bag or loosely around their shoulders in case they were approached by the dreaded morality police, which enforced the hijab, she said. “Nowadays, women go out entirely without a head scarf. They don’t wear it, and they don’t keep it around their shoulders or in their bags”, the Iranian journalist asserted. Despite the shift, she said a significant number of women still wear the head scarf for fear of retribution by the authorities.

The defiance of the hijab law is starkest in bigger cities. But even in smaller cities and towns, attitudes toward women’s rights, including the freedom to choose what to wear, is changing, and women are defying the authorities.

A woman in the southwestern city of Yasuj, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the “percentage of women who go out without the hijab in Yasuj is much smaller than in Tehran, but locals see these women as brave”. Many Iranian women believe the changes are here to stay.

“This change cannot be reversed or controlled”, Mojgan Ilanlou, a Tehran-based filmmaker who has documented Iranian women’s struggles, told Reporters. “But that doesn’t mean the government has changed its stance on the hijab”. Ilanlou added that the authorities have been “forced to retreat by the determination of Iranian women who fought tooth and nail for their right to wear what they want and now strive to protect that achievement. Authorities know that if they resist it will cost them and it will hurt them profoundly”, she said.

Team Maverick