A cultural faultline in Iran has re-emerged in recent months amid the turmoil of war and the revamping of the country’s hardline leadership: how and whether to enforce the wearing of the hijab by women.
At the height of the conflict with the United States this year, women without the headscarf were often seen at pro-government gatherings and in state media. The government and internal security forces had bigger issues to deal with.
In one video an unveiled woman carrying an Iranian flag said her husband was in the military, and that she was proud of him.
But in recent weeks, the clamor for restoring a hard line on what conservative clerics and politicians call “public nudity” has grown.
Many Iranian women are openly flouting the rule – and authorities seem wary of launching a crackdown, for now. The regime appears to have more pressing priorities – presenting the conflict with the United States as an existential struggle, managing the deep economic fall-out and reorganizing the security apparatus under the leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei.
