Pro-Niqab Rally in Mashhad

On March 2, a group of women staged a rally in Mashhad, Iran's second biggest city, to show their support for wearing full hijab. The women marched through the holy city in niqab, which covers not only the head but the face. In Iran, it is compulsory to wear an Islamic headscarf, but it is less common for women to cover their faces completely. 

Men, most of them members of the clergy, also took part in the rally, as did children. Girls who participated wore hijab, even though it is not compulsory until puberty.

Iranian Students' News Agency