Facing intense pushback within Iran, the Khamenei regime has put off implementing a new law that includes harsh penalties for women and girls who violate hijab rules.
Despite their unpopularity, the Iranian regime continues to impose its existing hijab laws on the women of Iran. The Quran clearly states that women “should” wear the hijab, but it does not say that they must; there is nothing compulsory about it in Islam’s holiest book.
What is behind the regime’s obsession with the hijab?
To legitimize its version of Islamic rule in Iran The Iranian regime uses its interpretation of Islam as a vital source of legitimacy for its rule over Iran's population. It views the secularization of Iranian society as an existential threat to its survival. Without Islam, the regime believes it would have no legitimacy to rule the Islamic Republic of Iran. The regime uses the example of the downfall of Islamic Andalucia (711-1492) and believes that its gradual secularization had led to its downfall, and conquest by the Spanish. The Khamenei regime does not want to meet the same fate and thus holds on to its hijab policy.
To fight the West The regime believes that the secularization of Iranian society is part of a sinister “soft war” by its Western enemies. Consequently, it sees the imposition and enforcement of strict Hijab rules as a response against the West.
Symbol of the revolution Prior to the revolution, to some Iranian women, wearing the Hijab became a symbol of defiance against the Shah’s drive to westernize Iran. It’s one of the few enduring symbols of the revolution’s existence and continuity. This is why Khamenei appointees, such as Ayatollah Hosseini Hamedani have likened the Hijab to the Islamic Republic’s Berlin Wall. Just as the fall of the latter meant the end of the Communist bloc, the fall of the hijab could also symbolize the end of Iran’s ruling regime.
To control Iran's women The Iranian regime believes that women play an important role in the existence and continuation of the revolution. In its early days, the regime repeatedly broadcast a story about a devout Iranian mother who turned in her 19-year-old "anti-revolutionary" son. She justified the verdict of execution to her sobbing son, by stating that it would cause God to “forgive his sins.”
The regime also continuously quoted mothers of soldiers killed in the 1980-1988 war against Iraq stating how proud they are. And that they would do it again.
“The Islamic Republic views mandatory hijab as one of its pillars of control over the Iranian populace. Without it, the clerical establishment is unable to subjugate women to their rule,” - Holly Dagres, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Washington Institute, told the Mideast Journal.
The recent liberalization of laws regarding women in Saudi Arabia has increased pressure on the Khamenei regime. The new Islamic regime in Syria allowing Syrian women to have more rights than Iranian women would add more resentment against the Khamenei regime’s hijab laws. But as long as Khamenei is alive, we won’t see any easing of this issue.
Dr. Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli lecturer, author, and commentator. He teaches various Iran-related courses at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.
His X handle @Meirja.