Iran International
A viral series of photos showing women without headscarves on the streets of Tehran has ignited heated debate on social media over claims that the Islamic Republic has loosened its enforcement of compulsory hijab.
The images, some first shared in early August on X by social media activist Sana Moeinni, depict scenes that appear to show everyday urban life in present-day Iran. They present a strikingly relaxed atmosphere, with diversity in clothing styles and subtle cultural symbols such as flags used in Shiite Muharram mourning ceremonies.
One photo shows a group of young men and women in casual, Western-style clothing gathered around a woman in Lebanese-style hijab seated on a large red armchair placed in the middle of a street.
Another depicts a woman and child riding a yellow scooter—an image that would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago, when an unwritten ban on riding bicycles or motorcycles in public was strictly enforced.
Staged reality or social progress?
Critics argue that the images are staged. Diaspora journalist Amir Kalhor called them part of a coordinated propaganda campaign.
“This project, involving dozens of photographers, models, and production teams, is designed to project a fabricated, sanitized image of life in Iran under the rule of the Islamic Republic for international audiences,” Kalhor wrote on Instagram.
Supporters of President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, see the backlash differently. Kiana Poorhaghighi, a young pro-government activist, argued that opposition groups feel threatened because hijab enforcement has been a powerful rallying point.
“If the Islamic Republic acknowledges diversity of clothing, as seen in these photos, the opposition loses one of its strongest tools,” she wrote on X.
Alireza Ziloochi, who calls himself a tourism expert, said: "I still can’t figure out when I should say, ‘Bravo for this courage. Everyday acts of resistance matter. People need to get used to seeing these images,’ when someone posts a photo without hijab in Iran’s streets — and when I should say, ‘The reformist scoundrels have launched the regime’s whitewashing project, because otherwise the streets of the city aren’t like this at all.’"
The photographers have not been publicly identified.
‘Fragments of reality’
Some critics accused the photographers of “selectively highlighting fragments of reality” to suggest that Pezeshkian’s government has eased restrictions, while concealing the ongoing struggles women face.
A commenter argued that the photos “whitewashed” the reality of the Islamic Republic by showing unveiled women but not the harshness of the daily risks women take: “It’s a struggle that costs us—materially, emotionally, mentally, and even physically,” she wrote.
Others framed the issue in broader terms of personal freedom: “Our women’s clothing, whether veil or bikini, should not be imposed by the state. Women and men should decide for themselves. We do not need guardians.”
The reality on the ground
In May, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council shelved a new hardline bill mandating stricter hijab rules, reportedly out of fear of public backlash. Enforcement has not disappeared, but reports of women facing harassment, including fines and impounding of their vehicles, are not as common as before.
While unveiled women are now common in Tehran and other cities, most still carry scarves in their bags to use in banks, government offices, or public transport if ordered.
“You can say we are free only when we can go to the bank, tax office, or hospital without a hijab, and are not told at the entrance to cover up,” one user wrote on X.
Few women dress entirely as they wish: most avoid sleeveless shirts, shorts, or short skirts, opting instead for long sleeves and modest skirts as a compromise to avoid confrontation.
“[Having to wear] long-sleeved blouses, pants, and long skirts in 40-degree heat cannot be considered freedom of dress,” a post on X argued.
Change from above or women’s steadfastness?
Supporters of Pezeshkian credit his presidency with the apparent relaxation of enforcement in recent months. Others insist that it is women’s defiance—not government reform—that has shifted the balance.
“The fact that women today walk unveiled in Tehran or even ride motorcycles is neither the result of ‘reform’ nor the reformists’ achievement,” one critic wrote, pointing out these relative freedoms are not formally recognized as legal rights.
“Any change in this matter is the result of women’s resistance,” wrote feminist activist Zeinab Zaman.
Milani told Eye for Iran podcast that Iranian women are at the heart of today’s opposition.
“The Iranian woman who decides to walk in the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, without a veil… that’s the most potent opposition to this regime,” he said.
Despite intensified crackdowns, women continue to defy compulsory hijab laws.
Public opinion surveys point in the same direction. A poll conducted last summer involving more than 77,000 people found that a majority reject the Islamic Republic and favor either regime change or a structural transition.
Milani said the most authentic expressions of opposition are found in cultural acts, not exile politics.
“It is the manifesto of the future of Iran,” he said.
Milani highlighted a recent production at Stanford University by acclaimed playwright Bahram Beyzaie, a reinterpretation of the revolution through the eyes of women. The play drew widespread interest inside Iran, with audiences requesting online access, while receiving little notice outside.
Awakening from a 'nightmare'
“Iranians have woken up from this nightmare,” Milani said referring to the Islamic Republic, “but now they need to get rid of the source of this nightmare, which is dogmatism, which is religious domination, which is velayat-e faqih. (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist)"
Milani’s remarks come as Iran faces one of its harshest crackdowns in decades. Rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been executed in the past year, many in public.
In Isfahan, authorities have begun ordering the confiscation of Baha’i homes and assets — a move the community’s representatives described to Iran International as “economic strangulation.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of labor activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, and women’s rights defender Hasti Amiri has been sentenced to three years in prison after protesting executions and appearing unveiled in public.
The long shadow of 1953
Milani argues that Iranians have too often been trapped in emotional narratives of the 1953 coup orchestrated by the CIA and the 1979 Islamic Revolution, casting the monarchy and the Islamic Republic in black-and-white terms.
"The Shah was, at worst, an authoritarian leader. At best, he was a modernizer,” Milani said. “This regime, at best, is a pseudo-totalitarian regime. And at worst, totalitarian.”
The difference, Milani said, is that while the monarchy did not attempt to reshape private lives, the Islamic Republic has tried to engineer a “new man and woman,” reducing women to second-class citizens and criminalizing dissent.
Milani argued that younger Iranians are less interested in “black and white” narratives about 1953 that toppled the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh, and more focused on freedom, equality, and dignity in their daily lives.
The Islamic Republic has long invoked the 1953 coup to justify hostility toward the United States, while downplaying the fact that Mosaddegh’s supporters were outlawed after 1979.
In 2023, the CIA for the first time described its role in ousting Mosaddegh as “undemocratic.” Yet Milani says the coup cannot be reduced to CIA intrigue alone, arguing that Iran’s clergy were decisive in turning against Mosaddegh.
Iran's future in people's hands
Seven decades on, he believes the lesson is clear: Iran’s future will not be decided by nostalgia or in-exile politics but by the resilience of ordinary citizens.
“The future of Iran,” Milani said, “is in the hands of those women, those teachers, those citizens who refuse to live by this ideology. They are the opposition to this regime.”
“Iranian society is more represented by intellectuals who used to be religious and now go and kiss the feet of a Baha’i and say, I’m sorry for everything we have done to you,” he added. “That’s the future of Iran. Those women are the future of Iran. They are the opposition to this regime.”
You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran on YouTube or listen on any major podcast platform like Spotify, Apple, Amazon, or Castbox.
“These children in practice have no fuel for learning, and teachers and principals, because there is not even a single grocery store near the school, cannot provide them with food and often have no choice but to send students home after such incidents,” the report said.
Ronak Rostami, a social activist, told Shargh that malnutrition has become a serious problem in schools. “Many children suffer from stomach aches, abdominal pain, and general weakness, which prevents them from making effective use of classroom time,” she said.
Students in villages often leave home around six in the morning with only dry bread and a little dried yogurt to eat on their way, she added.
Broader warnings
This is not the first time media in Iran have raised alarms about child malnutrition. A study published by the daily earlier this month, based on data from non-governmental organizations and volunteers, found that only 1.7 percent of households consume protein daily, while more than a quarter consume none at all.
Among households dependent on temporary jobs, 93 percent reported eating protein less than once a week or not at all.
Dairy consumption was similarly scarce. According to the report, just 2 percent of children receive dairy daily, while half receive none at all, even in households with stable jobs.
No one thinks of breakfast in rural areas
Poor families lack both time and resources for breakfast, explained a civil activist in Khuzestan, southern Iran, who was not named in the Shargh report.
“These children do not eat breakfast, and the reason is the type of life they are accustomed to and the compulsion they face,” he said. Parents leave early for farm or livestock work, while children either help or care for siblings.
Another activist in Ilam province said: “Here no one thinks of breakfast anymore. Even if they do, they cannot afford it, and a child who has no proper nutrition during the day goes to school without breakfast."
In classrooms where children must engage both mind and body, “they have no fuel to burn,” he said, recalling repeated instances of students fainting during school line-ups.
A study published in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition in January, titled “The prevalence of malnutrition in children under 6 in Southern Iran from 2018 to 2023: a population-based study,” found that malnutrition remains a serious concern, particularly among children in rural provinces of Iran, where it has led to conditions such as stunting — impaired growth caused by chronic undernutrition.
“This is the first time we know of that the government has used text messages to order confiscations,” Farhad Sabetan, spokesperson for the Baha’i International Community (BIC) told Iran International.
“What we are witnessing is nothing less than economic strangulation of the Baha’i community—families are deprived of their livelihoods overnight, without due process, without even a court order.”
Bahais constitute the largest religious minority in Iran and have faced systematic harassment and persecution since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Iran does not recognize the Baha’i faith as an official religion, unlike Christianity, Judaism, or Zoroastrianism. Authorities label it a “cult” with alleged foreign ties—charges its followers reject.
The BIC said the seizures included homes, vehicles, and other assets, carried out under Article 49 of Iran’s constitution, a clause designed to reclaim property gained through illicit activities such as theft or drug trafficking. In practice, Sabetan said, it is being misused “to plunder the possessions of citizens who have committed no crime other than being Baha’i.”
According to the BIC, families were ordered by text to present themselves to court or face arrest. Some later discovered blocked bank accounts, frozen business transactions, and restrictions on selling property. In several cases, court files were not recorded in Iran’s official judicial notification system, preventing defendants and their lawyers from reviewing them.
The confiscations come as Iranian authorities step up pressure on Baha’is, accusing them without evidence of spying for Israel. While thousands of Baha’i-owned properties have been seized since the 1979 revolution, rights groups say the new reliance on digital notices reflects a more brazen, impersonal stage of repression.
Sabetan said that the majority of those targeted in Isfahan are women—many engaged in teaching and community service. “It may not be coincidental,” he said. “After the Women, Life, Freedom movement, the government has been cracking down on women broadly. Now Baha’i women are being targeted in the same way—mothers and educators denied the ability to care for their families or live normal lives.”
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Baha’is account for more than 70 percent of all documented violations against religious minorities in Iran over the past three years. At least 284 Baha’is have been arrested in the past five years, receiving a combined 1,495 years in prison sentences.
“What the Iranian government is doing amounts to a gradual death sentence,” Sabetan said. “They may not execute Baha’is as they did in the early years of the revolution, but by stripping them of work, property, and dignity, they are trying to erase our community.”
