Iran police disperse pro-hijab protesters outside parliament

After officials declared the gathering unlawful, Iranian police broke up a weeks-long sit-in by protesters in favor of women’s mandated head covering, according to state television.

Since last month, the protesters, who were mostly women wearing black full-body robes, have been staging a sit-in outside Tehran’s parliament building.

Women have been obliged to cover their hair in public since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. However, a growing number of people have pushed the bounds by letting the covering slide back, especially in large cities like Tehran.

The protesters were calling for the implementation of a bill imposing tougher penalties on women who refuse to wear the covering, known as a hijab. 

Parliament approved the bill in September 2023. It triggered heated debate in the country, was not submitted to the government for final approval, and has since been shelved.

“After numerous negotiations with the relevant authorities and the protesters, they were requested to disperse and refrain from causing disruption, blocking roads, and creating traffic congestion for citizens,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said late Saturday. 

“A large number of the protesters complied with the police order and left the area but unfortunately a small number (around 30 individuals) resisted”, Mizan added. 

A video of an incident between the protesters and security personnel forcing them to leave the area was published.

The “illegal” sit-in, according to the official IRNA news agency, has been going on for around 48 days.

The “Law on Supporting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab” was the official name of the bill, which would have penalized women more severely for refusing to wear the required hijab.

It also required significant fines and prison sentences for those deemed to be promoting “nudity” or “indecency”.

The measure was approved by parliament almost a year after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died while in detention, sparking widespread protests in Iran. She had allegedly broken the rigid clothing code for ladies, which led to her detention.

Since then, more and more women have broken the law.

According to government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, the measure was put on hold because it “could have had serious social consequences” in January.