Senior Conservative on Expediency Council Says Mandatory Hijab No Longer Enforceable in Iran
Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a long-time conservative figure, declared that the mandatory hijab law is no longer enforceable in Iran and that he has never believed in compulsory hijab.
In a statement that has sparked significant political and social discussion, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a senior member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council and a long-time conservative figure, declared that the mandatory hijab law is no longer enforceable in Iran and that he has never believed in compulsory hijab. Speaking at a press conference hosted by Khabar Online in Tehran, Bahonar emphasized that the enforcement of mandatory hijab is not part of Iran’s current “national decisions,” saying, “Some people wanted hijab to be mandatory. From the very beginning, I did not believe in mandatory hijab and I still do not. The law of mandatory hijab is no longer necessary to be observed.” This declaration, made by a senior figure within Iran’s establishment, represents one of the most explicit statements to date from a conservative insider questioning the enforcement of dress codes that have defined the Islamic Republic’s public policy for more than four decades.
Despite Bahonar’s statement, government mandates for compulsory hijab persist. Article 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code still stipulates that women appearing in public “without proper Islamic hijab” can face imprisonment from ten days to two months or be fined between 600,000 and three million tomans. While Bahonar’s remarks suggest a de facto suspension of enforcement rather than a legal repeal, they nonetheless signal growing recognition and acceptance that public enforcement has lost its legitimacy and practicality.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has refused to implement the “Hijab and Chastity Law” passed by the previous parliament, effectively freezing its implementation. Pezeshkian, who advocates a more pragmatic and less confrontational governance style, stated several weeks ago in a televised interview that enforcing laws that could “provoke conflict and unrest in society” is counterproductive. He said he did not know how to implement such laws without escalating tensions, signaling a political choice to prioritize stability and public trust over coercive enforcement.
Bahonar, however, tempered his opposition to mandatory hijab with a cautionary note, asking, “The essential question is, how far should nudity be allowed? There must be some limits. Every country has its norms regarding dress, and those norms must be respected.” This duality reflects the conservative establishment’s struggle to balance ideological adherence with social realities, as public opposition to and defiance of enforced dress codes has grown sharply since the 2022 nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.
Taken together, Bahonar’s remarks and Pezeshkian’s earlier statements reveal a moment of recalibration within Iran’s political system. While no formal repeal of the hijab law has been announced, its practical enforcement appears increasingly untenable, and the political discourse is shifting toward redefining “modesty” within a more flexible and socially responsive framework.
However, the persistence of Article 638 and the possibility of localized enforcement mean that ambiguity and risk remain for Iranian women navigating public spaces. The contradiction between law and practice underscores the broader struggle of the Islamic Republic to reconcile its foundational religious codes with the evolving values of its citizens. In this sense, Bahonar’s acknowledgment that the mandatory hijab is “no longer necessary to be observed” may mark not only a political statement but also a symbolic recognition that coercion has lost its moral and social authority in today’s Iran.