[48644] New threat from Iran's religious establishment against women who remove the hijab

[48644] New threat from Iran's religious establishment against women who remove the hijab

Direct threat of taking action against women in Iran

In a series of harsh statements revealed on May 3, 2026, Rasoul Falahi, the representative of the Supreme Leader and Friday prayer Imam in the city of Rasht, threatened women who remove the hijab in public. Falahi called not wearing the hijab a "dirty situation" and "intolerable," and warned that "if the people decide, they will make life bitter for women without the hijab."

According to reports in Vahid Online and Iran International, a media outlet identified with the exiled opposition, Falahi also attacked the men in the women's families, labeling them "lacking honor" (bi-ghayrat) for allowing their wives and daughters to go out into the street without a head covering. He emphasized that this constitutes "opposition to the regime, the Quran, and God."

Conversely, the Telegram channel کافه سیاست, which sharply criticizes the policies of the Islamic Republic, analyzed the comments as part of a tactical shift by the regime. According to the article's author, Mahdi Nozari, the regime temporarily retreated from the hijab issue in recent months to "buy time" and gain legitimacy, but now that it feels more secure, it is returning to a policy of "threats, humiliation, and intimidation."

The commentary by کافه سیاست emphasizes that these threats symbolize that nothing has changed in the essence of the regime. The article warns that if the regime succeeds in overcoming the current crisis, the price the Iranian public will be required to pay will be "much heavier" than it was in the past, as the regime intensifies institutionalized repression as declared by its religious spokespeople.