(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s president criticized a new law that will increase restrictions on women’s rights and impose tough punishments on those accused of flouting dress codes.
The legislation includes hefty financial penalties such as the seizure of assets and bank accounts. Women who refuse to pay fines won’t be allowed to have passports, and businesses such as cafes and taxis will be liable for prosecution if women with “bad hijab” are seen using their services.
“While we may want to make something right, with this intervention we’ll also end up ruining a lot of other things,” President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV on Monday after parliament approved the “Chastity and Hijab” law. He cited a need to avoid “damaging national harmony.”
Compulsory religious dress codes have been enforced in Iran since the 1979 revolution, with so-called morality police patrolling busy streets and arresting women deemed inappropriately dressed, often violently.
The law was proposed under Pezeshkian’s predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, in response to mass protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was forced into a patrolling police van in Tehran for alleged improper attire. The security forces’ response killed over 500 people, according to rights groups, with at least seven more executed for taking part.
Authorities in Iran have long promoted the traditional black “chador” — a full-length robe that covers the body from the head down and is popular with religious women and state officials — or tightly worn head scarves and long dress coats. But in urban centers, women have for decades worn veils loosely and have pushed the boundaries of what’s permissible.
Over the past ten years, the morality police have become more violent and acts of civil disobedience have also escalated, culminating in the 2022 protests that saw thousands of women removing their head scarves or burning them in the street.
Pezeshkian, a reformist who was elected earlier this year, has pledged to improve the social climate for women, minorities and young people and foster “national unity.”
Several senior clerics have criticized the law for being too harsh and for sending the wrong message about Islam to younger people. Some politicians have also questioned its timing, as Iran is embroiled in a widening conflict with Israel and braces for a potentially much more hostile US under Donald Trump.
The law is scheduled to come into effect on Dec. 13, according to state media. But Abbas Salehi, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday that it was still being discussed.
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