Iran International
Iran's Guardian Council has approved the controversial Hijab and Chastity bill, now before Parliament, as the nation faces the looming threat of an Israeli attack that could test national unity.
The legislation, initially passed by Parliament in September last year, had been under review by the Guardian Council for months as Iran's leadership considered the public ramifications, particularly in light of growing defiance by women against the mandatory hijab, which has led to frequent violent confrontations with police.
Tahan Nazif, the Guardian Council’s spokesperson, said Saturday in a press conference that several members of Parliament had already informally communicated the bill's approval, The spokesperson did not clarify why the Council refrained from making a formal public statement.
The approval of the bill had been previously hinted at by key figures in Parliament. In September, Ahmad Rastineh, the spokesperson for the Parliament's Cultural Commission, and Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, a member of the Legal and Judicial Commission, both indicated that the bill, after extensive back-and-forth between Parliament and the Council, had finally been cleared by the Guardian Council.
Meanwhile, public concern over the bill persists, especially in light of broader national anxieties, including the possibility of conflict with Israel and economic instability. The Iranian outlet Rouydad24 criticized the timing of the legislation, arguing that, in the midst of pressing issues such as social cohesion and the widening gap between the government and the public, passing a law that would further alienate half of the population is highly questionable.
The bill, originally introduced by President Ebrahim Raisi's government in July 2023, imposes significant penalties for non-compliance with mandatory hijab regulations. First-time offenders would face a fine of 30 million rials (approximately $50), automatically deducted from their bank accounts. Repeat violations could lead to fines as high as 240 million rials ($400), a considerable burden in a country where monthly salaries average between $200 and $250.
Since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody because of hijab in September 2022, hardliners have sought to reclaim control over women's dress codes. Despite widespread defiance of compulsory hijab laws, government efforts to reinforce these rules have intensified, leading to the shutdown of businesses and the impoundment of vehicles associated with hijab violations.
The Guardian Council’s approval of the bill places additional pressure on President Masoud Pezeshkian, who had campaigned against compulsory hijab enforcement and condemned the proposed legislation as the "Darkness Plan." He had pledged to end the morality police’s use of violence and stop hijab patrols. Nevertheless, law enforcement officials have continued to enforce the hijab mandate.
The President is legally required to sign and communicate the law for implementation within five days of receiving official notification from Parliament. It remains unclear whether Pezeshkian’s office has already received the legislation.
The initial case that caught the public’s attention involved a mother in Qods City, Tehran Province, who could not pay the registration fee for her daughter’s enrollment.
“I had no choice,” she told Etemad, a local newspaper. “My daughter had already dropped out of school for two years because I couldn’t pay. So, I cleaned for her sake.”
This is while Article 30 of the Iranian Constitution guarantees free education for all citizens up to secondary school.
In response to the public outcry, the Qods City Department of Education announced Wednesday that the school’s principal had resigned. It said the case had been handed over to the disciplinary committee for further investigation.
The incident sparked widespread outrage, drawing media attention to the economic hardships many families face and the increasing pressure on schools to cover operational costs without sufficient government support. The follow-up investigations by Tehran-based media have shown that this issue extends beyond a single case, as similar incidents have happened in other schools nationwide.
The widespread nature of these practices contrasts sharply with the government's official stance. In September, the Ministry of Education spokesperson Ali Farhadi asserted, “We do not have any mandatory payments. Regular public schools should not receive any money from families. If someone has a complaint, it will be addressed within three days.”
One father in Khorasan Razavi Province, eastern Iran, told Etemad, “They [school officials] told us that if we didn’t have the registration fee, we had to clean, and if we reported it, they would expel our daughter.”
In another school in Tehran, parents from low-income families were contacted and given an ultimatum: pay the registration fee or provide labor services such as cleaning or maintenance work. Complaints from parents were largely ignored, and there have been no significant consequences for school officials involved, with one parent telling Etemad that the district’s education office only followed up with a phone call.
Shargh, a Tehran-based outlet, reported that teachers have disclosed a growing trend where parents, unable to afford public school fees, are asked to provide labor instead. These arrangements are typically negotiated between the school principal and the parents, allowing families to offer services based on their skills. For instance, a parent might say, "I can't pay the registration fee, but I’m a carpenter and can repair tables and chairs," or, "I’m a locksmith and can fix the classroom locks."
High inflation, estimated to be above 40%, and low salaries (around $200 per month) seem to be at the root of these violations. There are reports that teachers and administrators attribute these practices to insufficient government support. Due to financial constraints, schools are reportedly compelled to seek contributions from families to cover even basic operational costs like utilities.
According to the Iranian Statistical Center, 930,000 children and adolescents could not continue their education during the 2023-2024 school year, an increase from the 911,000 reported the previous year. Many experts attribute this rise to deepening poverty across the country, a trend also highlighted by the Association for the Support of Out-of-School Children, which has warned of a growing crisis in school enrollment.
In September, just days after schools reopened for the new academic year, the Ministry of Education reported that 790,000 students had not yet enrolled and an additional 890,000 students had not ordered textbooks. Despite repeated promises from government officials that educational access would be ensured for all, the situation continues to deteriorate for many low-income families, raising serious concerns about the future of education in the country.
According to the latest report from the Iranian Statistical Center, published in September, official data indicates that 30% of the population has slipped below the poverty line.