Analysis
Iran’s president rejects Chastity and Hijab Law: ‘I will not stand against the people’
Pezeshkian's simple words hold enormous political and social significance. It was an implicit acknowledgment that the law contradicts Article 9 of the system's general policy, which states that laws should be enforceable, oriented towards real needs and should ensure maximum participation.
Two hundred nine deputies (out of 290) of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic have sent a letter to the Parliament Speaker calling for the enforcement of the Chastity and Hijab Law, which was suspended in December by the Supreme Security Council. The legislation provides for harsh penalties for women and girls who violate the hijab requirement, including fines, imprisonment and flogging.
Last Wednesday, however, Iranian President Pezeshkian took a surprisingly strong stand against their initiative: “I cannot enforce the chastity and hijab law because it creates problems for people and I will not stand against the people.”
Pezeshkian's simple words hold enormous political and social significance. It was an implicit acknowledgment that the law contradicts Article 9 of the system's general policy, which states that laws should be enforceable, oriented towards real needs and should ensure maximum participation.
This de facto acknowledges that the law clashed with the will of the people, who have had enough of the system's claim to control the private sphere of families and women and of the instigation of men against mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. Of course, there was perhaps no need for these words after decades of protests and repression, but Pezeshkian's statement sounds like an official sanctioning of the victory of the women's movement against the regime's impositions.
The Iranian women's movement has been at the forefront of the battle for civil rights for several decades. It has succeeded in creating a chain of equivalence among its activists, focusing on the fight against discriminatory laws. Differences between religious and secular women, between socialists and liberals, between nationalists and ethnic minority rights activists have narrowed in favor of a collective identity based on the fight against legal discrimination.
Over the years, the movement, affected by the forced exile of many, has seen a new generation of younger, more radical women take the battle to a new front, focusing on liberating the female body from state control. The struggle against the compulsory veil became the center of women's discourse and the rallying point for women of all social classes, from urban workers to women of the religious bourgeoisie, and became the symbol of opposition to the regime.
This new phase has strengthened women's identity as a direct opposition to the dominant theocratic identity, fostering alliances with other social movements. Women became protagonists in student protests, organized labor movements and joined together with workers, bringing the women's movement to the center of the struggle for democracy in Iran.
Young girls danced through the country's streets, burning their headscarves in the extraordinary “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest mobilization that swept through Iranian society as a whole. The waves of protest only seemed to recede after a long and systematic crackdown. However, they left a trail of civil disobedience that effectively nullified the hijab requirement. Despite years of repression, the women's resistance has deeply radicalized democratic discourse, making it more inclusive and universal. Iranian society has accumulated such a level of collective action and resistance that it is ready for democratic transition.
Pezeshkian's statements, although significant, certainly do not signal a definitive victory: the conservative forces in power will continue their attempt at social control. Their offensive has already begun against the president himself. Nonetheless, openly acknowledging the impossibility of enforcing a repressive law is a turning point, though not one that brings satisfaction when compared to the enormous price Iranian women have paid during these years.
This fight is not just an issue of what women can wear, but a symbol of a broader struggle for rights, freedom and democracy in Iran. The voice of Iranian women is now too strong to be ignored.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/iran-il-velo-sconfitto on 2025-03-08