Inside Tehran’s Metro ‘Repentance Rooms’: VR Meets Religious Propaganda

A surreal theater unfolds in a dimly lit corner of Tehran’s metro.

With their fingertips adorned with forbidden nail polish, young women stretch trembling hands toward an artificial shrine.

Tears stream down their faces as rebellious locks of hair - symbols of defiance - escape from beneath hastily arranged scarves.

Their voices, thick with emotion, profess sudden devotion to Shia imams and General Qasem Soleimani.

The walls are covered with framed photos of Basij members killed during protests and deceased members of the Axis of Resistance.

A woman’s voice, with exaggerated kindness, can be heard offering them a “blessed” headscarf as a gift, asking them to wear it and promise to maintain their hijab from now on.

A video titled “Repentance Room in Tehran’s Tajrish Metro” has been widely shared on social media this week.

The footage, repeatedly circulated since yesterday, shows the strange and sudden transformation of girls who previously did not wear a headscarf.

It captures them becoming emotionally overwhelmed upon seeing a simulated shrine of the third Shia imam, along with images of Qasem Soleimani and key figures admired by the Islamic Republic.

After the video gained traction on social and cultural media, some attributed the “repentance room” to another initiative by Alireza Zakani, Tehran’s mayor.

However, in a broadcast on the Quran Channel, Bahareh Jangravi, head of the Daughters of the Revolution group - which promotes government-approved culture and religious enforcement - claimed responsibility for the concept and implementation of the "repentance room."

The Revolutionary Girls are a group of Basij members and hijab enforcers dedicated to confronting women who refuse to wear headscarves and propagating state-approved ideologies.

They have arranged weddings for a Lebanese man who lost half his face in Hezbollah pager explosions.

They have held conventions promoting the chador, met with Khamenei, and claimed to persuade hijab opponents through “cultural work” and persuasion.

In April 2023, at the height of women’s civil disobedience against mandatory hijab, Jangravi told Fars News Agency that they deliberately appropriated their name from the Girls of Enghelab [Revolution] Street—a movement in which women protested by raising their headscarves on sticks.

“When we witnessed the anti-value behaviors of the Enghelab Street movement, we decided to counter it with our own influential movement of hijab-wearing women,” she said.

“We sought a name that would overshadow theirs - one rooted in revolutionary culture, the Imam’s path, and the ways of the martyrs.”

What’s Really Happening in the Tajrish Metro?

Maryam, a Tehran-based sociologist who commutes via the metro daily, explains, “These are the same metro hijab enforcers. Previously, they would start arguments and conflicts - now they’re trying to manipulate people’s emotions to provoke religious and nationalist sentiments. They’ve replaced confrontation with honeyed words to impose their will.”

Jangravi describes their tactics: “When girls approach the shrine, we put 3D glasses on them and transport them to Bayn al-Haramayn [a religious site in Iraq].

“They see the space of Imam Hussein’s shrine as they turn their heads. When they cry, we take them inside the hexagonal shrine. We’ve placed a stone from Imam Hussein’s shrine inside, given to us by the shrine’s servants.

“Surrounding them are photos of all martyrs - from Haj Qasem to Martyr Ajamian, to Arman [referring to Arman Aliverdi, a Basij member killed during the 2022 nationwide protests], and Martyr Nasrallah. We ask if they know these martyrs. Most of them respect Haj Qasem.”

Maryam, the resident of Tehran who spoke with IranWire adds skeptically, "All those standing at the booth wear chadors with 'Revolutionary Girls' ribbons, and most people avoid them to prevent engagement. 

"Honestly, I don't believe these videos. We don't know what circumstances these people are under. They might even be actors. I know they exploit people's religious sentiments, but people don't fall for their games anymore."

She says whenever she sees hijab enforcers in the metro, she thinks of Armita Geravand - the 16-year-old who suddenly collapsed at Shohada metro station, fell into a coma, and later died at Tehran's Fajr Hospital. 

Eyewitnesses had reported Armita's confrontation with metro hijab enforcers before the incident.

Jangravi's group claims they've converted 300 girls to wearing hijab in just six days of their metro booth operation. 

They share their videos under the title "Clean Cultural Work for Hijab."