Tehran University Tries New Measure To Enforce Hijab Law

Tehran University vows to enforce new regulation that punishes women students who do not abide to the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, amid four months of nationwide protests demanding more freedoms and women’s rights.

All women in Iran must conceal their hair with a headscarf while in public and wear loose fitting trousers under their coats.

But a growing number of them, including celebrities, have appeared in public without head coverings since the eruption of the protest movement sparked by the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police. Amini had been arrested for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly.

"Unfortunately, there is a small group of students who are not very interested in obeying the law. We must be serious in dealing with people without hijab," Mohammad Moghimi, the head of Tehran University, told local media on January 19.

Moghimi said that female students who don’t respect the Islamic Republic’s dress code will first receive an official warning.

The families of the students who repeat the offense will be informed that they didn’t abide to the law, he said, adding that a “disciplinary case” will be opened against those who “insist on disobeying the law.”

Iranian authorities have unleashed a brutal crackdown on the anti-government demonstrations. The security forces have killed more than 500 people, including dozens of children, and detained over 18,000, human rights activists say.

Around 20 people have been handed capital punishment in connection with the protests. Four of them have been executed so far amid international outrage.