Foreigners Hired Iranian Women to Shed Hijab, Says Khamenei

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has claimed that foreigners have hired women to remove their mandatory hijab. 

"I received credible reports that they [foreigners] hired some [women] to break the rules in the society and appear without hijab," Khamenei said. 

However, he did not present any evidence. 

During a meeting with government officials on Wednesday evening, he underlined the mandatory nature of the hijab.

Khamenei emphasized that "maintaining the hijab was of utmost importance," framing it as the primary objective, as "the enemy intends to regress the country to a pre-revolutionary era," which he characterized as "disgraceful."

Addressing the gathering, Khamenei labeled noncompliance with mandatory hijab among women as an "imposed challenge." He asserted that such an issue had not existed in the country previously. 

"Hijab is an integral component of Sharia law, applicable to all Muslim women. It is a legal mandate that transcends personal beliefs, demanding compliance from both adherents and non-adherents of Sharia," he said. 

Further emphasizing the imperative of adherence to wearing hijab, Khamenei stressed its obligatory nature across governmental, judicial, and other institutional domains. 

All women in Iran are required to wear a headscarf and loose-fitting trousers under their coats in public.

But a growing number of women have appeared in public without a headscarf since months-long protests erupted in September 2022 following the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody.

Amini had been arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing her headscarf "improperly."