{"id":340132,"date":"2025-12-04T21:28:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=340132"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:28:22","slug":"khameneis-hijab-speech-reveals-a-regime-trapped-between-its-base-and-an-unruly-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/society\/khameneis-hijab-speech-reveals-a-regime-trapped-between-its-base-and-an-unruly-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Khamenei\u2019s Hijab Speech Reveals a Regime Trapped Between Its Base and an Unruly Society\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_340133\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-340133\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-340133\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025.jpg\" alt=\"Ali Khamenei addresses a handpicked audience of women in Tehran during his speech\u2014 December 3, 2025\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025-745x420.jpg 745w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025-150x85.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/iran-khamenei-speech-women-03122025-696x393.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-340133\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ali Khamenei addresses a handpicked audience of women in Tehran during his speech\u2014 December 3, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Three-minute read<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Stuck between a demoralized base and an explosive society, the Iranian regime\u2019s 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.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On December 3, 2025, Khamenei addressed a handpicked female crowd at the Khomeini Hussainiya in Tehran. According to state media, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/farsi.khamenei.ir\/news-content?id=61995\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">he hailed<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> the \u201cvery exalted\u201d status of women in Islam, claimed his regime had proved hijab is \u201cno barrier to women\u2019s progress,\u201d and condemned what he called the \u201ccorrupt Western capitalist culture\u201d toward women.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">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 \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wncri.org\/2025\/03\/07\/hijab-law-209-lawmakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Chastity and Hijab\u201d law<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, even though that law has again become a hot issue in the regime\u2019s power circles.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">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 \u201cimproper\u201d hijab, spread nationwide and turned refusal to veil into normalized civil disobedience in many cities.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Watch and judge why <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Khamenei?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Khamenei<\/a> is reinforcing his misogynic orders against <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>&#39;s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/women?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#women<\/a>? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YXuI9eMRPl\">pic.twitter.com\/YXuI9eMRPl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1645147064542855169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Reactionary Gender Roles Wrapped in Religious Language<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Khamenei\u2019s speech also underlined his reactionary view of women\u2019s place in society. In the official account, he described women and men as \u201ctwo complementary elements\u201d with equal capacity for spiritual and social advancement but located women\u2019s core role inside the home.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In a condescending display of misogynistic mindset, he told the audience that women are the \u201cmanager and head of the home, not its servant,\u201d urging husbands to shoulder responsibility for \u201cthe effects of childbearing\u201d and the burden of running a household under inflation and low wages. He praised women for \u201ckeeping the house running\u201d despite soaring prices \u2014 then asked rhetorically: \u201cAt noon, lunch is on the table \u2014 who does this work?\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a> Regime Backs Down on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Hijab?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Hijab<\/a> Law Amid Fear of Social Uprising and Internal Divisions<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jm2zrMoT1F\">https:\/\/t.co\/jm2zrMoT1F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1869305854039584836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Hijab Law on Paper, Suspended in Practice<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The political backdrop to the speech is a hijab system frozen at the top of the state.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Lawmakers passed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2024\/12\/iran-un-experts-call-hijab-and-chastity-law-be-repealed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hijab and Chastity Law<\/a> with steep fines, asset freezes and potential prison terms for women and for businesses deemed to tolerate \u201cimproper\u201d dress. But in 2024\u20132025, 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 \u201csocial repercussions\u201d and renewed unrest.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">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.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">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.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Amid intense pressure from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IranRevoIution?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IranRevoIution<\/a>, Khamenei&#39;s representative claims <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a> is a paradise for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/women?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#women<\/a>. Watch and judge his arguments. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9wwBf6xLqI\">pic.twitter.com\/9wwBf6xLqI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1602743075490578432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Pressure From the Regime\u2019s \u201cCore Defenders\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Khamenei\u2019s careful wording stands in sharp contrast to the demands now coming from the institutions most closely tied to the regime\u2019s loyal base\u2014those expected to stand by the system if protests erupt again.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On December 2, more than half of the regime\u2019s parliament signed a letter accusing the judiciary of failing to enforce the hijab law. \u201cThe judiciary cannot remain passive,\u201d the 155 MPs wrote, warning of \u201cgrowing immodesty\u201d and alleging that \u201cenemies of the Islamic Revolution have designed a plan to launch a nudity movement in society.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">They complained that \u201clack of will\u201d in implementing existing rules had led some to conclude that the Islamic system had \u201cabandoned governance\u201d in this sphere\u2014a rare public admission that visible non-compliance is eroding the regime\u2019s authority among its own supporters.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>\u2019s Regime Divided Over New <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Hijab?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Hijab<\/a> Law as Survival Concerns Loom<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/S1k9JWUNEq\">https:\/\/t.co\/S1k9JWUNEq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1864625767054815316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 5, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/ebrahim-raisi\/who-is-gholamhossein-mohseni-ejei-irans-new-judiciary-chief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mohseni-Eje\u2019i<\/a>, speaking the same day in Yazd, echoed the pressure. He said \u201csome work\u201d had been done on hijab but \u201cby no means enough,\u201d 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 \u201cplanned and calculated\u201d coordination across institutions to \u201ccontrol this scene,\u201d signaling that the security and judicial apparatus wants a freer hand.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Khamenei\u2019s 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\u2014while avoiding a direct command that could trigger the very street confrontation the regime fears.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three-minute read&nbsp; Stuck between a demoralized base and an explosive society, the Iranian regime&rsquo;s supreme leader Ali Khamenei delivered his recent defense of compulsory hijab while avoiding any explicit public [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":340133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5480],"class_list":{"0":"post-340132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-society","8":"tag-ali-khamenei"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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