Government Emphasizes Restraint on Hijab Enforcement After Controversy Over Supreme Leader Directive
In the past week, Iran has been drawn into a new political storm after the government confirmed receiving a directive from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei regarding hijab enforcement.
In the past week, Iran has been drawn into a new political storm after the government confirmed receiving a directive from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei regarding hijab enforcement. The development was reportedly triggered by the circulation of an 11-minute leaked audio file that claimed the Ministry of Intelligence had delivered a “shocking” report on cultural dissent and growing defiance of compulsory veiling. Until recently, these claims were unverified. But as officials stepped forward with confirmations, clarifications, and denials, the issue has exposed deep contradictions inside the state and raised questions about whether the new directive signals a genuine intensification of enforcement—or an attempt by Khamenei to restrain the hardliners who demand a full-scale crackdown.
According to the leaked audio, attributed to Azim Ebrahim-Pour, the alleged head of the national “Jihad Tabyin Headquarters,” the Minister of Intelligence delivered a report to Khamenei describing widespread cultural “deviations,” organized networks, and growing non-compliance with hijab. The speaker claimed that Khamenei reacted with alarm, calling the report “shocking,” and instructed the government to take “severe action” through intensified intelligence operations, confrontation with alleged organizers, and activation of conservative cultural groups. He further alleged that when President Masoud Pezeshkian presented these instructions in cabinet and urged ministers to “enter operational mode,” three cabinet members—Elyas Hazrati, Zahra Behrouz Azar, and Ali Rabiei—opposed the proposal.
This narrative gained momentum after Hossein Rafiei, deputy head of the seminaries’ cultural commission, publicly acknowledged the existence of the report, saying it was so disturbing that Khamenei “expressed deep dissatisfaction” and issued written instructions to the president. Rafiei insisted that, according to the Leader’s note, intelligence agencies must identify “project-makers” and field operatives who promote cultural dissent.
Facing growing speculation, the government finally responded. Elyas Hazrati, head of the government’s Information Council, confirmed that the government had indeed received a directive from Khamenei, but insisted the leaked audio was “incomplete, imprecise, and based on misinterpretations.” He emphasized that the administration would not return to previous coercive methods, calling the morality-police model “ineffective and socially damaging.” Hazrati also revealed that the government had formed a special committee to study the issue and adopt “new, rational approaches” rather than confrontational strategies. He stressed that no such divisive debate—of the type described in the audio—had taken place inside the cabinet.
He further clarified that the Ministry of Intelligence report lists 23 forms of social disruption, including gang activity, alcohol consumption, and illegal establishments, and that “improper hijab was only one item among them.” This contrasts sharply with the leaked narrative suggesting that hijab was the central focus. President Pezeshkian reinforced this message, stating openly that “society cannot be changed through threats, commands, or coercion,” and that any effort to shape behavior must be rooted in public trust and ethical governance.
At the same time, Khamenei himself avoided the hijab issue entirely in his televised address to Basij forces—despite hardliners’ demands for a strong public stance. Instead, he focused on unity, dismissed foreign-policy misinformation, and closed by urging citizens to “pray for rain, security, and well-being.” His silence on hijab at such a politically charged moment was widely viewed as intentional and strategic.
Perhaps the most symbolic moment came when the official website of the Supreme Leader published a photograph of Nilufar Ghalevand, a 30-year-old Pilates instructor killed during Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iran. In the widely circulated image, she appears without hijab, wearing a sports cap—a dramatic break from the website’s long-standing practice of showing women only in chador or formal headscarves. Hardline figures reacted angrily, accusing the Leader’s media office of violating modesty norms. In response, the website defended the choice, stressing that the image represented “the cultural diversity of Iranian martyrs” and the “sacred unity of the Iranian nation.” Many observers interpreted the publication as a deliberate symbolic message from the Leader’s office signaling flexibility and resistance to hardline demands.
The controversy highlights the continued transformation of Iranian society since the death of Mahsa Amini in morality-police custody in 2022, which triggered the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising. Despite heavy repression, non-compliance with compulsory hijab is now widespread, especially among young women in major cities, and morality-police vans have vanished from streets. The new Hijab and Chastity Law, passed last year, has been blocked from full implementation by the Supreme National Security Council, though activists argue that some provisions—such as SMS warnings and limited service denial—are still quietly applied.
Against this evolving landscape, Khamenei’s directive—and the government’s softer interpretation—appear designed to serve two purposes simultaneously. On one hand, the confirmation of the order signals to hardliners that Khamenei remains committed to Islamic norms and is attentive to their demands. On the other hand, the Leader’s public silence, the Pezeshkian administration’s emphasis on non-coercive methods, and the publication of Ghalevand’s unveiled photo collectively suggest a deliberate effort to restrain hardliners and avoid actions that could spark another nationwide uprising.
The result is a paradoxical but revealing moment: the Islamic Republic is sending signals of firmness to its conservative base while simultaneously avoiding a return to the aggressive enforcement that ignited the protests of 2022. Whether this balancing act can hold remains uncertain. The gap between official directives and the social reality of Iran’s streets is widening, and the conflict over compulsory hijab has evolved into a deeper struggle over state authority, political factionalism, and the future direction of governance in Iran.