Iran: Procedure against pro-Hijab demonstrators Signing a strategic pivot? | Masoud Pezeshkian | Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

The Iranian authorities have distributed a one -week protest from demonstrators who support the mandatory Hijab after explaining the meeting illegally. The protest outside the parliament in Tehran was led by a small group, mainly women who were dressed with black chadors and continued to dress for almost 50 days.

The unprecedented approach on March 28 has revealed profound cracks within the political and social structure of the Islamic Republic as well as in the ruling conservative establishment. Such a strict measure is usually reserved for demonstrators that gather for liberal causes, but it seems that the administration sends a strict message that no protests are tolerated against the regime, despite the matter. The incident shows that Iran is experiencing a broader struggle for theocratic control, even if it wanes due to several questions with economic hardship and international pressure.

The Pro Hijab protests have been brewing for some time when a group camped outside the parliament since the beginning of February. They criticized what they as the default of the government to maintain “Islamic values” by strict enforcement of the Hijab law, which was passed by the conservatively dominated parliament in September 2023. It was tried to defend serious punishments, including high fines and prison terms, in women who defend the dress code and companies that failed them that force IT. However, the implementation was stalled, a decision attributed to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), reports according to the tacit approval of the top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Pro Hijab demonstration, which was supported by ultra-conservative political groups such as the Paydari front, was created in the growing frustration with this delay. For this “super revolutionary”, the hijab is not only a dress code, but a cornerstone of the revolutionary identity of Iran after 1979. Your guards reflected Khameneis explanation from April 2023 that it was “religious and politically Haram), in which it blamed foreign powers for promoting the defiance. The topic in particular in December 2024 to a purely female audience Hat fueled the speculation of a strategic rotations, possibly to a softer approach in the middle of the rising domestic and international challenges.

In fact, the procedure developed against the background of an increased tension in the region. On Friday there were massive state-organized quds day races in Tehran, which put solidarity with Palestine. As soon as the rallies were over, hundreds of police officers, both male and female, moved in to dispel the Hijab demonstrators who had opposed repeated inquiries to leave. Tehran’s deputy governor, Hossein Khosh-Eghbal, justified the action, branded the assembly “illegally” and warned that unauthorized rallies would have similar consequences.

The mouthpiece of the judiciary, Mizan Online, reported that a persistent minority, although they had complied with propagation commands, prompted a stubborn minority. However, religious citizens’ groups claim excessive violence that the police have released as invented.

This episode came for Iran at a critical time. Since the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, which is obliged to rule due to supposedly violated Hijab rules – the public has increased despite the dress code, especially among younger women. The subsequent protests in which hundreds of lives were asserted, shook the regime and ensured a brief suspension of the moral police before their quick return.

As part of the deceased President Ebrahim Raisi, a Hijab law, which was set up in March 2025 under the reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who spoke out for “education” about punishment. The suspension of the law, supported by the spokesman for the Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf parliament, reflects the fears of sparking unrest in terms of economic problems that have been tightened by US sanctions.

Ghalibaf, which they blame for the delay and the procedure, have taken up the vigilante. Hours before the police, demonstrators sang against him during his speech at the Friday prayer in Tehran. Hardline legislator Hamid Rasaei named the spread as a result of “stupidity or infiltration”, during the Mahmoud Nabavian of the Paydari front that the preservation of the Islamic Republic could outweigh the law of Iranian crises.

The discord in conservative rows indicates a break consensus, even among the strictest defenders in the regime. The government’s reaction combines oppression with caution: it uses cameras to recognize the unveiled women, and encourages the public runny nose, but hesitates to completely unleash the criminal group of the new law. The action against the demonstrators in Tehran can also signal a warning for ultra-hardliners that despite against Khamenis, the obvious shift, which may not be tolerated to the Trump management.