Posted by Hijab Crackdown in Iran: Zarif’s Davos Denial vs. Tehran’s Reality
January 24, 2025
9 min read
The Islamic Republic’s officials, including Mohammad Javad Zarif, claim a relaxed stance on hijab enforcement, but evidence on the ground suggests continued strict implementation of the law.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zarif claimed that women in Tehrans walk without head coverings and that the government avoids pressuring them.
He said, “If you go to the streets of Tehran, you will find women not covering their hair. It’s against the law, but the government has decided not to put women under pressure.”
He added, “We are moving in the right direction… It’s not enough, but it is a step in the right direction.”
Vice President Zarif’s comments, often called the “supreme whitewasher,” have drawn criticism.
On-the-ground evidence gathered by IranWire from across Iran shows that the hijab law is still being rigorously enforced in other ways. IranWire spoke to numerous Iranians who have received warnings for hijab violations or had their vehicles impounded for non-compliance.
Two drivers for Snapp, Iran’s version of Uber, shared their experiences of receiving hijab-related messages or having their vehicles impounded in December, dismissing Zarif’s statements as lies.
Azadeh, a mother of two college students who works as a Snapp driver in the afternoons and evenings after her primary job, shared her experience with IranWire: “Exactly two weeks ago, it was in the afternoon when a woman requested a ride, and I accepted.”
“She was wearing a chador, and I think she was a student heading to the dormitory. We hadn’t even reached the halfway point when she told me, ‘You should wear your hijab properly.’”
Azadeh continued, “I was surprised that a passenger told me, the driver, how to wear my hijab. I asked her, ‘Why didn’t you say anything when you got in?’ She replied, ‘Because your short hair looked like a boy’s, I thought you were a boy.’”
“I stopped the car and said, ‘When you booked the ride, didn’t you see my picture and information? Why are you lying? My name and photo are on Snapp.’”
Azadeh then asked the girl to get out of the car.
The girl exited, shouting that she would report the incident to Snapp and the police. At that moment, an older woman in a chador stepped forward to support the girl, escalating the argument.
Azadeh recounted, “I was caught between the two of them when two or three other men approached. Unfortunately, instead of defending me, they sided with the middle-aged woman, saying, ‘She’s like your mother; you shouldn’t insult her.’”
“I was surprised. What insult? I was defending my civil rights, but unfortunately, instead of defending me, these men sided with the woman and the girl until an elderly man passing by realized I was right.”
“The argument calmed down. But before leaving, the woman and the girl kicked my car and walked away. A few minutes later, I received a hijab warning message. That’s when I realized the girl had reported me to the police.”
“My car, which has already received three warnings, is now being pursued. Either I take it to the impound lot, or the police will stop me and tow it.”
She concluded, “For what crime? For the crime of not obeying the discriminatory hijab law that Mr. Zarif says we must observe.”
A similar incident occurred with male drivers of online taxis.
Ahmad, a driver for Tapsi, another online taxi service, recounted picking up three girls, around fourteen or fifteen years old, who were not wearing hijabs.
He told IranWire, “Normally, because I don’t believe in the hijab, I can’t tell the girls or women who get into my car to wear it.”
He continued, “You know, as online taxi drivers, we’re caught in the middle. If we don’t warn them, our cars will be impounded, and we’ll lose our jobs. But if we warn them, we’re essentially going against our conscience.”
“That day, the same thing happened to me. The interesting thing is that when you receive a message, it’s not a camera recording you, but people.”
“There were no cameras where I dropped off the girls, but I noticed a bearded man standing there, which caught my attention.”
“When I received a hijab warning message a few minutes later, I realized that these are government officials who report you wherever they see you.”
Ahmad explained that after receiving his first hijab warning, the message included a link to file a complaint.
He said that when you visit the link, the options to prove you weren’t at that location at that time or that the car wasn’t in your possession don’t work.
As a result, no complaint is registered, and you have to wait for the second and third warnings before your car is impounded.
The experience of receiving warning messages and having vehicles impounded is not limited to taxi drivers. Many private car owners have faced similar issues in recent months. Roya, Taj, Mehrnaz, Sara, Azam, Pouran, Eli, and Somayieh – eight residents of Tehran and Karaj have received impoundment notices or had their cars towed to impound lots in the past month or two.
In interviews with IranWire, several people confirmed that their vehicles were primarily reported by individuals.
Sara, whose car was impounded last month, described the process to IranWire, “It’s not very complicated. Most of these messages are based on reports from individuals, often government agents because cameras can’t always accurately capture violations.”
She added, “You receive a text message from the traffic police saying that a hijab violation has been reported against you at a specific time and location.”
“After the third report, your car is impounded. If you don’t take it to the impound lot, the police can impound it whenever they stop you.”
Sara explained,
She added, “This is because they share the towing fees with the impound lot. Towing can cost between one and three million tomans. We had to rely on contacts to get our car back.”
“After being assigned a specific time slot at the impound lot, you have to go to the morality police, file a report, and sign a commitment. With this commitment, you can get your car released.”
“After paying the parking fees and fines, you can retrieve your car. But it’s a cycle that repeats itself, and you can expect more reports from informants.”
Mehrnaz, a resident of Karaj, shared, “Last week, I was parking my car when I noticed a woman in a chador. A few minutes later, I received a hijab violation message, and I’m sure she reported me [to the police]. After the third report, my car was impounded.”
Pouran and her husband had a similar experience.
They were driving back to Tehran when the police stopped them, and their car was impounded.
Pouran told IranWire, “We were on our way back to Tehran when a police car started following us. They stopped us and said we had ignored their warnings.”
“We asked what we had done, and they told us we had received three hijab warnings and that our car was being impounded.”
“Imagine, in the cold weather, on the highway, having to go to the police station and being told to come back the following week. We had to go to Qom and stay with a friend until we could arrange to get our car released through a contact at the police station.”
Azam, who has received multiple hijab warning messages and whose car was impounded at 2:30 AM on the Tehran-Karaj highway, was left stranded by the police on the highway.
She reacted to Zarif’s statements, saying, “This man, who didn’t even have control over his own beard during the nuclear negotiations and changed his style at the behest of the mullahs in Qom, is now talking about a discriminatory law that enforces gender apartheid.”
She added, “This man claims that the government is tolerant towards women in Tehran who don’t obey the hijab law. Does he not know that dozens, even hundreds, of cars are impounded every day because of the compulsory hijab?”
Somayieh, confirming Azam’s words, shared her own experience. After receiving three hijab warning messages, she received an impoundment notice but did not take her car to the impound lot.
She explained that in recent weeks, patrols and morality police checkpoints have increased in Tehran, especially on weekends – Fridays and Saturdays – in busy squares and main streets.
“If you’re caught without a hijab, they stop your car, immediately check your information, and then impound it.”
Somyieh added, “In recent weeks, whenever I see them, I change my route to avoid having my car impounded. Now, on Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram, everyone is sharing their impoundment stories, asking, ‘Where should I go?’”
“People have even created channels on Telegram to discuss this issue. Twitter is also full of these reports. The situation is becoming harder and more dangerous every day for women drivers.”
Taj and Roya also confirmed similar experiences.
Roya said, “Almost all of my friends have received hijab warnings during this period. I’ve received four. Most of the messages I received were while driving in traffic – government drivers, when they spot you without a hijab in the car, report you, and within minutes, you get a message.”
She added, “All of my messages came in traffic. You just have to be lucky that the police don’t stop you. My friend Eli, after receiving three messages, was stopped by the police at midnight on the Sattari freeway. They checked her information right there and forced her to get out of the car.
“No matter how much Eli insisted she would take the car to the impound lot the next day, they didn’t accept it.
“They made her get out and took the car to the impound lot with a tow truck, leaving her stranded on the highway at midnight.”
Roya added, “You have to pay for all the costs yourself, from the tow truck to the impound lot, plus the fine for the car. In Eli’s case, the tow truck damaged Eli’s car, but they refused to accept responsibility. They said, ‘Be thankful we returned your car.’”
Based on IranWire’s investigations, this situation is similar in other cities.
Nasrin in Shiraz, Maryam in Mashhad, Kobra in Bushehr, and Mina in Kerman are among those who have received multiple hijab warning messages or had their cars impounded for violating the hijab law. Kobra even faced the threat of being fired from her job at a government department due to these violations.
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