“Street Protests” in Support of the Hijab and Chastity Law
The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has decided not to officially announce the Hijab and Chastity Law, sparking ongoing criticism from hardline parliamentarians. Previously, these parliamentarians spent weeks attempting to remove Foreign Minister Zarif from office, and now they are focused on forcing the promulgation of the hijab law. However, many moderate conservatives oppose the calls to enforce the hijab and chastity law, arguing that enforcement would only heighten tensions nationwide and asking that the law remain on hold.
Mehri Talebi-Daristani, an activist in the “Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong” movement and a former official in the same field—best known for her “Anti-Hijab Clinic” initiative—called for a protest on Twitter, scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 2025 (21 Esfand 1403), from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Although this gathering was deemed illegal under the country’s usual procedures for demonstrations, attendees demanded enforcement of the law that the SNSC Secretariat had halted. Their primary grievance was Masoud Pezeshkian’s statement that he would neither enforce the law nor stand against the people.
Some participants in this protest carried signs declaring, “Enforce the Hijab and Chastity Law,” “Removing Hijab Is Both a Religious and Political Transgression,” and “Defending the Hijab Means Defending the Family.” Others, however, displayed signs with overtly political or electoral messages, indicating that at least some demonstrators were motivated by broader political agendas. Observers noted that efforts to push for the law’s promulgation appeared, for certain participants, to be merely a pretext for drawing in higher authorities and creating divisions that could lead to a larger crisis.
Meanwhile, another group of women supporting the Hijab and Chastity Law gathered on March 7 (17 Esfand) outside the residence of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli in Qom. They stated, “Some of our clerics, who should stand with the revolutionary camp, have chosen silence! We see that the President is standing against the explicit laws of Islam! We are here to make our final stand.”
A critical turn came when Javad Nik-Bin, a member of Parliament, revealed that some individuals were allegedly being paid to attend hijab-related street protests. “Security agencies confirmed in a letter to Parliament that money was distributed among ‘revolutionary forces’ for demonstrations in front of Parliament,” he said. Having raised the issue during a parliamentary session, Nik-Bin emphasized that the Supreme National Security Council’s decision has blocked the law’s enactment.
He later responded to criticism of his assertions, stating “My remarks were misunderstood. I—and a hundred others like me—would sacrifice our lives for a single strand of a veiled woman’s hair. I have received more than 4,000 threatening or insulting text messages calling me a ‘haramzadeh’ (illegitimate). But it is evident these individuals are not truly defending the hijab. How can one claim to defend the hijab without observing respectful language?” Nik-Bin concluded by asserting that, while only a small number of people accept payment for attending protests, he has evidence to support this claim.
