Headscarves are compulsory in Iran: The hated piece of cloth

Official concessions on the headscarf in Iran are unlikely. But the regime could loosen controls again without much notice. It is questionable whether that would actually ensure peace on the streets.

Since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini almost three weeks ago, people have been taking to the streets in Iran. Tehran’s morality police took her away and allegedly beat her to death for not wearing her headscarf according to the rules. The headscarf is practically part of the DNA of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the country has been called since the Islamic revolution in 1979. It’s just a piece of cloth, but a hated piece of cloth for many women in Iran. They associate it with fear of sometimes brutal controls by the vice squad.

This young Tehran student speaks to Reuters news agency shortly after Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody: “My voice trembles when I talk about it because it’s happened to me once or twice. I thought how would my parents feel feel when something like this happens to me?”

As the student speaks, her eyes dart nervously from left to right, presumably to see if anyone is watching. Today, such an interview on the streets of Tehran would no longer be possible: too dangerous.

Identity of the Islamic Republic

The headscarf is part of the identity of the Islamic Republic. It is based on three pillars, explains Islam scholar Katajun Amirpur: “First, the hostility towards America – this harsh criticism of America, which definitely has a historical reason that cannot be dismissed out of hand. Then it’s Iran’s state system and it is the headscarf. And I would almost think that of the three, the headscarf is what, in a certain way, most of all defines the character of the Islamic Republic.”

Public discussion among important officials

One sentence in the speech by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is all the more astonishing this week: Many women who don’t wear the headscarf correctly still support the Islamic Republic.

Mahsa Amini probably died because she had not worn the headscarf correctly – at the discretion of the vice squad. There is actually a public discussion among important officials about the headscarf requirement, says Amirpur. “It’s not entirely clear whether some are just being sent forward to calm the population.”

On Iranian television, for example, there are sometimes people who say – yes, we have to respond to the justified demands of the population. “And you don’t know for sure if it’s someone who says you have to calm things down so that it doesn’t get worse or if it’s someone who says we can’t go on like this.”

Concessions to the headscarf?

However, she considers official concessions on the headscarf to be unlikely. It’s too important a management tool for that: “If you’ve already got half the population under control per se or want to exercise control. And it symbolizes very strongly, because it interferes so much with people’s personal lives, what you can do anything to people by forcing it on them. And especially by controlling it so harshly and rigidly.”

In addition, the regime must fear that such a partial success would give the demonstrators a boost – and the demonstrators too. Because men have shown solidarity with women from the very beginning. According to the Islamic scholar, there are also dress codes for men. For example, shorts and t-shirts are a no go in Iran. “What has also been worn less often in recent years, although it has become more popular, is the tie. The regime actually does not want a tie. This means that Iranian officials and clergymen wear a stand-up collar.”

70 percent of women against compulsory headscarves

However, the controls and consequences of violating these rules are not comparable to those for women. For example, if the vice squad catches an Iranian woman behind the wheel without a headscarf, they can temporarily confiscate not only her driver’s license but also her entire car.

According to a study by the country’s media, 70 percent of women in Iran would reject the headscarf requirement. It is possible that the regime will loosen the headscarf controls again without much announcement, so it is not looking as closely as it did until early summer. Whether that would actually bring peace to the streets is questionable. A woman tweeted a few days ago: “Those up there haven’t understood that it’s no longer just about the headscarf, it’s about them.”