Tehran metro arrests fuel debate over protests and change in Iran

In a striking reversal of Iran’s traditional political alignments, the Revolutionary Guards-linked Javan and the Supreme Leader–affiliated Kayhan criticized Pezeshkian’s performance but directed their harshest attacks at centrist papers and politicians, portraying them as fickle, self-interested and destabilizing.

“A group of reformists have been threatening the President and calling on him and his aides to resign,” Javan asserted in an editorial on Wednesday. “There is no justification for their behavior other than spite and self-interest.”

The paper did not name anyone but was clearly alluding to two former lawmakers and prominent centrists, Hossein Marashi and Elias Hazrati, whose affiliated outlets recently circulated stories about an alleged resignation.

“Reformists are part and parcel of the Islamic Republic and will never find a system more useful for their own interests,” the editorial quipped.

‘Sign of desperation’

Kayhan similarly positioned itself as the reluctant messenger, presenting its criticism of Pezeshkian as quotes from reformist outlets rather than as its own.

The hardline daily — whose chief is appointed by the Supreme Leader’s office — began by faulting “inaction” and “misguided policies” in the administration, while rebuking the public for failing to repent and pray for rain amid a worsening water crisis.

Then came the maneuver: instead of attacking Pezeshkian directly, Kayhan attributed the harshest lines to Iran’s foremost moderate dailies.

“Saying the truth without offering a solution can disrupt people’s peace of mind,” it quoted Ham Mihan’s critique of Pezeshkian. And from Sharq: “The President should talk about solutions and decisions rather than merely presenting problems… The way he spoke revealed the executive body’s desperation.”

‘Got it wrong’

Kayhan also mocked government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani for sending a “heart” emoji to reporters, repeating Ham Mihan’s jab: “You are not a stand-up comedian!”

Hardline outlets regularly attack presidents, especially those backed by moderates. But they appear to have found a new tactic: using reformist criticism as a shield, undermining Pezeshkian while posing as protectors against what they call disloyalty.

Javan closed with a final swipe that hit two birds at once: the president and his supporters. “Someone preparing to resign does not kick the ball like that,” it wrote, referring to viral images of Pezeshkian visiting the camp of Iran’s national football team.

“Mean-spirited politicians who hope for his resignation have got it wrong.”

Nearly 40 million Iranians now live below the relative poverty line, according to labor officials, including seven million in absolute poverty—people who would still face malnutrition even if they spent all their income on food.

Bread provides more than 40% of daily calories for low-income families, yet prices of bread and cereals, set by the government, have almost doubled in a year.

Meanwhile, the real dollar value of workers’ wages has collapsed from about $500 in 2015 to less than $160 today.

“The gap between the rich and the poor is now so wide that the middle class is effectively disappearing,” economist Ali Ghanbari told moderate outlet Fararu.

‘National crisis’

Faramarz Toufighi of the Labour Councils told ILNA that real food inflation surpassed 90% in October, warning that the minimum wage covers “not even one-third of workers’ basic living costs.”

The business site Eghtesad24 highlighted the figure and amplified the alarm, writing that a misstep in setting next year’s wages could trigger “a national crisis.”

Economist Hossein Raghfar told Etemad that even the most optimistic wage proposals—up to a 35% rise—will do nothing to restore purchasing power.

“For more than three decades, wage hikes have lagged behind inflation,” he said. “Workers and public employees are effectively subsidizing the state by earning less than the cost of living.”

Raghfar criticised the government for claiming it lacks funds for higher wages while “injecting vast sums into the stock market, spending foreign currency reserves on luxury imports, and sparing large corporations from fair taxes.”

‘Fighting for survival’

The financial daily Eghtesad News warned that the official poverty line “has become a political slogan,” noting that people judge reality by supermarket prices, rent, and school fees—not by government claims.

Labour expert Hamid Haj-Esmaeili told the paper that the average wage is roughly 170 million rials (about $155), while the average household now needs at least three times that to get by.

Ali Dehghan-Kia, head of the Tehran Retired Workers’ Association, told Etemad that the wage–inflation gap has stripped families of purchasing power.

Retirees, he said, face “a survival crisis” in food, housing and healthcare. “If this continues, the social consequences will be severe.”

Chronic corruption

Raghfar has long warned of what he calls the “São Paulo-ization” of Iran’s economy—extreme wealth concentrated in a small elite while the majority sink deeper into poverty. He told Khabar Online this week that rising poverty is inseparable from corruption in the banking sector.

The collapse of Ayandeh Bank, absorbed into a state entity after going insolvent, is “just the beginning,” he said, predicting similar outcomes for other private banks.

Britain sanctioned Ayandeh’s owner, Ali Ansari, in October for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Guards. Foreign media estimate his London property holdings at about the same value as Iran’s entire annual anti-poverty budget—roughly $180 million.

“What makes this case more than personal … is the staggering contrast between a banker’s frozen wealth in London and the structural poverty inside Iran,” the labour news agency IONA wrote in an editorial.

“When a nation’s anti-poverty budget equals one man’s assets, the real question is no longer ‘where the money came from’ but ‘what kind of system made this possible.’”

The pressure comes amid rising inflation, stagnant growth and deepening shortages of energy and water that have strained public patience.

Experts warn the situation could deteriorate further next year, when the full impact of renewed UN sanctions triggered by European powers is expected to hit Iran’s already fragile economy.

Economist Morteza Afghah told the moderate outlet Fararu on November 12 that Pezeshkian’s call for eight-percent annual growth—echoed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—was “unattainable even without the war with Israel and Europe’s snapback sanctions.”

He said Iran’s fifth development plan had already fallen far behind schedule and criticized Pezeshkian for repeatedly insisting that “major economic problems should be solved” without offering specifics.

“Which of the people’s problems can be solved by repeating that over and over?” he asked.

'Wasteful'

Conservative commentator Vahid Yaminpour made a similar point in a televised debate with a member of Pezeshkian’s media team, saying the president had invoked the country’s economic malaise nine times in less than a week without offering a semblance of a solution.

One such instance came earlier that day, when Pezeshkian criticized the large annual budgets allocated to organizations he said served no useful purpose.

“Start cutting those budgets from my own office,” he told lawmakers, noting that the presidential office employs nearly 4,000 staff, though he believes it could function with 400.

Economist Mehdi Pazouki urged the president to move beyond rhetoric and impose discipline on government spending, highlighting the proliferation of parallel bodies performing overlapping tasks.

“The irregular expansion of the government is one of the main reasons for the rising inflation rate,” he told Fararu. “Without solving this problem, it will be too difficult to overcome inflation.”

Pazouki also ridiculed Pezeshkian’s pledge to deliver a “budget without deficit,” calling the assertion a “joke.”

'Unaware'

Last month, even the conservative establishment daily Jomhouri Eslami advised the president: “Cut off the budget of organizations that have no achievements. The only thing they do is act like devoted disciples of those who fund them.”

Such criticism has been leveled at every administration, and Pezeshkian appears no more capable—or willing—than his predecessors to confront it. But he is also developing a growing PR problem.

During Pezeshkian’s parliament address on Tuesday, speaker—and elections rival—Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told the president that his economy minister Ahmad Meydari and his spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani did not grasp basic economic concepts.

Pezeshkian admitted he was unaware of what his own spokesperson had told the nation.

For decades, Iran’s Public Culture Council and the National Foundation for Islamic-Iranian Fashion and Clothing have strictly overseen what they call “chaste attire.”

Tehran held fashion events in 2014 and 2015, where the designs were limited to “modest fashion”—long coats, scarves and loose forms approved by authorities. No later editions followed the events due to the official denial of permits.

This year’s revival of Tehran Fashion Week was folded into Tehran Design Week, a government-approved initiative showcasing design, furniture and art. Yet despite official oversight, photos and videos showed a strikingly freer atmosphere.

Some female models appeared at the events without headscarves, wearing tight-fitting western-style outfits, and many visitors ignored the mandatory hijab altogether. Women were seen in some social media videos walking bareheaded through the galleries in jeans and dresses.

The contrast is shocking to conservatives who have long treated fashion as a state-controlled domain. Yet for many Iranians, it simply reflects what the streets already look like after nearly two years of weakening hijab enforcement.

Private runways and changing tastes

Bita, a Tehran resident, told Iran International that private fashion shows have quietly flourished in major cities in the past two decades. “They are often underground, mixed-gender, and without hijab,” she said. “The clothes are usually exclusive and extremely expensive—far beyond what ordinary people could afford.”

The social shift since 2022, she added, has reshaped the industry itself and these private fashion events.

“The hijab barely exists anymore in many places,” she said. “Designers who once made luxury scarves and manteaux have turned to new lines because their former clients—the wealthy women who followed fashion—have mostly abandoned the hijab. Only a small group of very rich religious women still buy such expensive clothing, and their taste is totally different.”

Bita said she saw online ads for the Design Week fashion section, held at a well-known Tehran gallery, though she didn’t attend. “But my friends who went say it largely looked like seriously testing limits.”

Cultural paradox

Earlier this year, several clothing sellers at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar were prosecuted for hosting a women’s fashion show in which models appeared without scarves or with hair visible on the red carpet. Officials accused them of “violating public morality”, and their shops were shut down.

Independent news website Rouydad24 published a commentary published an analysis arguing that clothing in Iran has become not just a cultural or social question but a political and even security issue.

“In a country where just a few years ago shop mannequins were banned, stores were closed for selling open-front manteaux, and a small fashion show at the Bazaar caused a scandal," the commentary pondered, "how can Fashion Week possibly align with the realities of society?”

A senior official rekindled the debate on Monday when he said parliament should “decide” whether the law needs clarification on women’s licensing.

“If religious standards are observed, motorcycling does not contradict most sharia rulings,” said Abdolhossein Khosropanah, secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Several news outlets quickly framed the remark as permission for women to ride, while conservative lawmakers bristled at the ball being tossed into their court, insisting that no such issue was on parliament’s agenda.

Khosropanah also warned that some women already ride “without proper hijab,” effectively acknowledging that the genie is out of the bottle.

Reality on the streets

The supposed “green light” may not herald imminent policy change—and few seem to be waiting for it anyway.

Women on scooters and motorcycles have become increasingly common. Many now zip through traffic on lipstick-red, lilac, and canary-yellow bikes, taking children to school or commuting to work. Groups of young women even ride together in social clubs, sharing videos that draw thousands of likes.

Only a generation ago, even car driving was restricted in some areas, with families forbidding it despite valid licenses.

Women have also competed internationally since 2016, when MAFIRI opened motocross events to women despite the lack of a dedicated track. Earlier this year, the Women’s International Motorcycle Association launched an Iran chapter.

One rider told the moderate daily Etemad that her husband “stood up to relatives” who disapproved. “Sharing my rides on social media brought more clients,” she said. Another scooter rider said public reactions are largely positive: “People cheer us on, but some traffic police still treat us badly.”

The Sharia barrier

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled that women’s cycling “in public view of men is haram because it attracts attention.”

While he did not mention motorcycles, many clerics apply the same logic, arguing that riding prevents wearing the hijab properly and exposes body movements.

Proponents counter that Islamic law never banned women from horse-riding and that women have long been allowed to ride as passengers on motorcycles without police interference.

Iranian law does not explicitly ban women from riding motorcycles, but no licensing system exists for them because the traffic code refers only to “men”—a gap police interpret as exclusion.

Without licenses, women cannot obtain insurance and may be liable for full blood money in accidents. Penalties for riding without a license include fines, bike confiscation, and up to two months in jail, rising to six months for repeat offenders.

Public pushback

A landmark 2019 lawsuit briefly forced police to issue a license before being overturned on appeal, but it galvanized public debate and encouraged more women to ride openly.

The Presidential Parliamentary Office recently said it is drafting a bill to modify Article 20 of the Law on Driving Offenses to allow women to obtain motorcycle licenses.

Legal scholar Mohsen Borhani wrote on X: “Opponents of women motorcyclists have no rational, moral, or religious basis. This discrimination is as absurd as Saudi Arabia’s old ban on female drivers.”

Commentator Sahand Iranmehr added: “Clinging to outdated rules only raises the cost. A law that resists social reality becomes obsolete and loses legitimacy.”