A former senior Iranian traffic police official said there is no legal ban on issuing motorcycle licenses to women, but a regulatory gap has left them unable to ride legally, pointing to debate in parliament where some lawmakers have raised concerns over hijab compliance.
Colonel Einollah Jahani, the former deputy head of Iran’s traffic police, told ISNA news agency on Wednesday that Article 20 of the country’s traffic law currently tasks the police with issuing motorcycle licenses for men but is silent on women.
“From a legal perspective, this article only clarifies the police’s duty toward men and does not prohibit issuing licenses to women,” he said. “The silence of the law has created a gap that must be resolved by parliament.”
The government has submitted a bill to parliament to address the issue, state media has reported, but Jahani said that some lawmakers remain uneasy over how women would observe Islamic dress codes while riding.
He argued the concern was misplaced: “Both men and women must wear helmets, and helmets provide the necessary coverage to meet hijab requirements. This is a safety obligation that also addresses religious concerns.”
Iran’s traffic police chief, Brigadier General Teymour Hosseini, said earlier this week that any licensing of women would require formal changes to bylaws and law, and that the force was “awaiting an official notification on women’s motorcycling so we can proceed.”
Women have been legally allowed to own and register motorcycles in their name, but licensing has been withheld, leaving many to ride without permits in a legal gray zone.
Jahani said this inconsistency should be corrected: “There is no prohibition for women to own motorcycles under the constitution. They can hold official registration papers in their own name, so logically they should also be able to obtain licenses.”
He added that women have increasingly demanded the right to ride motorcycles, citing economic pressures, traffic congestion and the need for affordable transportation.
“In the past there was no demand, but today motorcycling has become a social demand,” he said, noting that research shows women generally drive more cautiously than men.
The debate comes against the backdrop of wider calls for women’s rights in Iran since the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, which ignited nationwide protests.
Conservative clerics have resisted moves to permit public motorcycling by women, arguing it could breach social norms, but reformist officials say formal training courses can provide a workable compromise.
