Three-minute read
Stuck between a demoralized base and an explosive society, the Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei delivered his recent defense of compulsory hijab while avoiding any explicit public order to intensify enforcement, highlighting how headscarf rules have become a central dilemma inside the regime after the 2022 uprising.
On December 3, 2025, Khamenei addressed a handpicked female crowd at the Khomeini Hussainiya in Tehran. According to state media, he hailed the “very exalted” status of women in Islam, claimed his regime had proved hijab is “no barrier to women’s progress,” and condemned what he called the “corrupt Western capitalist culture” toward women.
What Khamenei did not say was as politically important as what he did. He gave no direct order to revive full-scale street patrols, nor did he instruct the government or judiciary to implement the stalled “Chastity and Hijab” law, even though that law has again become a hot issue in the regime’s power circles.
The omission reflects how the 2022 protests have changed the cost of coercion. Those protests, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini over “improper” hijab, spread nationwide and turned refusal to veil into normalized civil disobedience in many cities.
Watch and judge why #Khamenei is reinforcing his misogynic orders against #Iran's #women? pic.twitter.com/YXuI9eMRPl
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 9, 2023
Reactionary Gender Roles Wrapped in Religious Language
Khamenei’s speech also underlined his reactionary view of women’s place in society. In the official account, he described women and men as “two complementary elements” with equal capacity for spiritual and social advancement but located women’s core role inside the home.
In a condescending display of misogynistic mindset, he told the audience that women are the “manager and head of the home, not its servant,” urging husbands to shoulder responsibility for “the effects of childbearing” and the burden of running a household under inflation and low wages. He praised women for “keeping the house running” despite soaring prices — then asked rhetorically: “At noon, lunch is on the table — who does this work?”
#Iran Regime Backs Down on #Hijab Law Amid Fear of Social Uprising and Internal Divisionshttps://t.co/jm2zrMoT1F
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 18, 2024
Hijab Law on Paper, Suspended in Practice
The political backdrop to the speech is a hijab system frozen at the top of the state.
Lawmakers passed the Hijab and Chastity Law with steep fines, asset freezes and potential prison terms for women and for businesses deemed to tolerate “improper” dress. But in 2024–2025, the Supreme National Security Council quietly moved to suspend its implementation, and officials have since acknowledged that the law is effectively on hold due to fears of “social repercussions” and renewed unrest.
In practice, enforcement has shifted toward selective campaigns, electronic surveillance and financial penalties. A UN fact-finding mission reported in March 2025 that authorities increasingly rely on road cameras, facial recognition and mobile apps that allow citizens to report alleged hijab violations, leading to vehicle seizures and summonses, even as unveiled women have become common in major urban centers.
Official data and regime-adjacent analyses tend to understate the gravity of the legitimacy crisis, but the decision to halt a leader-backed law after it passed parliament is itself a sign of deep anxiety about the potential for another nationwide flashpoint.
Amid intense pressure from #IranRevoIution, Khamenei's representative claims #Iran is a paradise for #women. Watch and judge his arguments. pic.twitter.com/9wwBf6xLqI
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 13, 2022
Pressure From the Regime’s “Core Defenders”
Khamenei’s careful wording stands in sharp contrast to the demands now coming from the institutions most closely tied to the regime’s loyal base—those expected to stand by the system if protests erupt again.
On December 2, more than half of the regime’s parliament signed a letter accusing the judiciary of failing to enforce the hijab law. “The judiciary cannot remain passive,” the 155 MPs wrote, warning of “growing immodesty” and alleging that “enemies of the Islamic Revolution have designed a plan to launch a nudity movement in society.”
They complained that “lack of will” in implementing existing rules had led some to conclude that the Islamic system had “abandoned governance” in this sphere—a rare public admission that visible non-compliance is eroding the regime’s authority among its own supporters.
#Iran’s Regime Divided Over New #Hijab Law as Survival Concerns Loomhttps://t.co/S1k9JWUNEq
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 5, 2024
Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, speaking the same day in Yazd, echoed the pressure. He said “some work” had been done on hijab but “by no means enough,” and highlighted how a short 9-article judiciary draft had swelled into a 70-article law in parliament, now stuck in limbo. He called for “planned and calculated” coordination across institutions to “control this scene,” signaling that the security and judicial apparatus wants a freer hand.
Khamenei’s latest speech tries to square the circle: reassure this core base that hijab remains a non-negotiable pillar of the system, project cultural defiance toward the West, and tighten media discipline—while avoiding a direct command that could trigger the very street confrontation the regime fears.