Iran International
A senior conservative’s assertion that Iran’s Islamic system is “softly reforming” its stance on the hijab has triggered furious backlash from ultra-hardliners demanding full enforcement of the Hijab and Chastity Law suspended earlier this year.
The remarks by Expediency Council member Mohammad-Reza Bahonar come as Iran’s leadership struggles to contain public discontent while facing renewed UN sanctions.
The fierce subsequent backlash underscores deepening fractures within Iran’s conservative establishment over how far the state should go in policing morality and religious codes.
Speaking to reporters on October 3, Bahonar said the Hijab and Chastity Law—quietly shelved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in May—is “no longer legally enforceable.”
It was likely shelved due to concerns it would inflame tensions after the 2022 death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality police custody sparked nationwide protests which were quashed with deadly force.
“The paradigms of the Islamic Republic are being gradually and softly reformed,” Bahonar said, adding there is currently no binding or enforceable law regarding hijab. “The system’s general decision is that there is no compulsory hijab law in force.”
The veteran conservative bashed ‘Hezbollahis’—hardline Islamist loyalists—for attempting to dictate their preferences to the 90 percent of Iran's citizenry who “want to live” as they choose.
‘Savage, naked' West
At Saturday’s heated parliament session, ultra-hardline lawmakers launched a coordinated attack.
“Which system’s interests are you defending in the Expediency Council—the Islamic Republic’s or that of the savage, naked Western system?” senior MP Ahmad Rastineh said, addressing an absent Bahonar.
“Those who promote and defend nudity and say there is no hijab law are no different from those who frighten the nation with the shadow of war. Both target the Islamic system,” he added.
Amirhossein Bankipour, one of the law’s architects, blamed Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian for blocking its enforcement, saying on state TV that both men had “failed to communicate Parliament’s decision to executive bodies.”
In a recent Fox News interview, Pezeshkian reaffirmed his opposition to coercion, saying he “does not believe in forcing women to wear the hijab.”
Bankipour invoked Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s position, insisting: “The Leader has stated several times—publicly and unambiguously—that there will be no retreat on the issue of chastity and hijab.”
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline daily Kayhan, denounced Bahonar’s terminology, saying the phrase “compulsory hijab” was “fabricated by the enemies of Islam and the Revolution.”
“Mr. Bahonar has not explained what he means by using the term ‘compulsory hijab,’” Shariatmadari wrote. “If the hijab is a legal requirement—and it is—why should it not be enforced?”
Quiet retreat
Khamenei last forcefully touched on the issue in an April 2023 when he declared that disregarding the hijab was both “religiously and politically haram (forbidden).”
Meanwhile, the reformist outlet Ensaf News reports that Iran’s urban landscape has already moved past the old debate.
In Tehran and some other cities, the number of women wearing headscarves has markedly decreased, while many others wear loose scarves on their shoulders and the back of their hair.
The once-ubiquitous manteau coat has nearly vanished, replaced by long blouses and trousers. Crop tops and open shirts have become increasingly visible among young women—a quiet but unmistakable shift in daily life.
Lawmakers passed the measure with 144 votes in favor, 108 against, and three abstentions out of 262 present. The reform amends the Monetary and Banking Law to redefine the rial as equal to 10,000 current rials and introduces a new subunit, the qiran or gheran, worth one hundredth of a rial.
Under the legislation, both old and new rials will circulate for up to three years during a transition period. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) must establish operational procedures within two years of enactment and publicly announce the start of the change through official media.
According to the new law, after the transition period, all financial obligations denominated in the current rial will be settled using the new unit.
The CBI will also be responsible for managing the withdrawal of old banknotes and coins and for setting foreign exchange rates under the country’s current exchange regime.
The plan -- first proposed by the government in 2019 and discussed across three administrations and parliamentary terms -- has undergone multiple revisions. The latest version retains the rial as Iran’s official currency, dropping earlier proposals to rename it the toman.
Shamseddin Hosseini, head of parliament’s Economic Committee, said the measure’s main purpose was to “make banknotes more functional and facilitate financial transactions.”
He added that the abundance of zeros in the national currency had caused accounting and operational difficulties, adding that similar redenominations had been undertaken by countries such as Turkey in 2003 and 2005.
Hosseini acknowledged that cutting zeros would not directly reduce inflation or address Iran’s underlying economic challenges, but called it “an unavoidable adjustment” given years of high inflation and declining purchasing power.
Iran’s central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin said in May that the redenomination would take place this year as part of wider banking reforms.
The change, he added, would align official usage with common practice among Iranians, who already express prices in tomans -- equivalent to 10,000 rials.
The reform comes amid persistent inflation of about40%, a more than 90% loss in the rial’s value since US sanctions were reimposed in 2018, and widespread economic hardship.
Economists say that while the move could have short-term psychological benefits, it is unlikely to solve Iran’s deeper structural issues, including fiscal imbalances, monetary instability, and limited central bank independence.
“This policy is largely cosmetic,” economist Ahmad Alavi told Iran International in August. “Without tackling the roots of inflation -- from liquidity growth to systemic inefficiencies -- removing zeros will not restore the rial’s value.”
Iran has debated currency reform for decades, with earlier efforts raised under the administrations of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Rouhani. The current legislation, delayed several times by the Guardian Council, now returns to the body for final review before becoming law.