Iran International
A hardline cleric’s attack on unveiled women, even as Iranian state media showcased them at pro-government rallies to signal broad wartime support, has exposed tensions within the establishment over hijab enforcement.
In the northern city of Rasht, Friday prayer leader Rasoul Fallahi delivered a fiery speech during one of the nightly pro-government gatherings held since the outbreak of the recent war.
Speaking to supporters, he accused unveiled women of standing against “the system and the Quran,” calling them “immoral and immodest.” He also attacked male relatives of such women, describing their fathers, husbands and brothers as “dishonorable.”
Addressing women seen without hijab at the events and elsewhere, Fallahi warned: “Do not think these people will put up with you.” He escalated his rhetoric further by saying that if the public decided to confront them, “they would do something that would make you no longer dare to leave your homes.”
The speech, broadcast live on provincial television, quickly spread across Iran’s domestic online space and reignited debate over hijab enforcement during wartime.
The conservative-leaning outlet Fararu addressed the issue in an article titled, Why Are Unveiled Women Being Attacked?
“From the parade of ‘Self-Sacrificing Volunteer Girls’ to nightly gatherings supporting fighters, camera lenses seek out women with such appearances to show that all segments of society are present among supporters of the homeland,” the editorial read.
The apparent contradiction—highlighting unveiled women in official imagery while condemning them from the pulpit—has not gone unnoticed.
Supporters of stricter dress codes, including clerics like Fallahi, argue that hijab compliance is mandated by Iranian law. They often cite remarks by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who said several years ago that failing to observe hijab was both “religiously and politically forbidden.”
But Fallahi’s remarks have also drawn criticism from some clerics aligned with the government who argue that emphasizing such issues during wartime risks undermining national unity.
Abdolreza Pourzahabi, the Supreme Leader’s representative in Kurdistan province, cautioned against divisive rhetoric.
“We should not focus on points of division and disturb social calm, causing people already dealing with war to also have to answer for their hijab,” he said.
The debate has also fueled backlash online.
One user wrote: “So if there were no war, the law should be enforced and unveiled women would be beaten, arrested and imprisoned—but because the country is at war and needs people’s presence, it’s temporarily acceptable?”
The broader backdrop dates to September 2022, when the death of Mahsa Amini in custody triggered the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. Since then, authorities have largely avoided aggressive street enforcement of hijab laws for fear of reigniting unrest.
Restrictions nevertheless remain firmly in place in official settings. Women without hijab can still be denied entry to government offices, hospitals and courts, while mandatory hijab rules continue to apply in schools.
Enforcement also varies sharply across the country. In more religious cities such as Qom, stricter measures are still reported.
A user recently wrote on X that while shopping in Qom, an officer shouted at her to observe hijab. When she ignored him, she said he placed his hand on his weapon and threatened to impound her car if she could not find something to cover her head, photographing both her and her license plate.
The dispute reflects a deeper uncertainty within the Islamic Republic: whether the wartime softening around hijab is merely tactical, or a recognition that strict enforcement now carries political risks the state can no longer fully control.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.