Tehran cafe shut down over women bikers’ event
A café in northern Tehran was sealed off late Thursday after announcing an event for female motorcyclists scheduled the next day.
A café in northern Tehran was sealed off late Thursday after announcing an event for female motorcyclists scheduled the next day.
The café’s Instagram page had advertised a Friday gathering with a DJ and cash prizes for participants. But it later posted an image of a police closure notice and urged followers not to attend.
Despite extensive legal restrictions, more women have taken up motorcycles in Iranian cities in recent years, particularly since the protests over Mahsa Amini’s death in morality police custody. The trend has spread beyond Tehran to places such as Yazd and other provinces, according to officials.
Under current law, women are barred from obtaining motorcycle licenses. The traffic code amendment passed in 2010 specifies men only, leaving women who ride in a legal vacuum. Driving without a license is an offense, yet enforcement against women riders has been uneven, with police issuing warnings or seizing bikes at their discretion.
Kazem Delkhosh, deputy in the parliamentary affairs office of President Masoud Pezeshkian, said in August the government is considering changes. “We are preparing legislation for women who want to ride and the women’s affairs office is also working on a bill,” Delkhosh told the state-run Iran newspaper.
Lack of licensing carries wider consequences, he added. “If a female rider is injured or causes damage, there is no license to hold her accountable or for insurance to cover losses,” Delkhosh said.
Senior police officials maintain the current ban is binding. “According to existing law, licenses for female motorcyclists cannot be issued,” the deputy head of the traffic police said last month.
Religious ban
Clerics often argue that women riding motorcycles (or bicycles) in public settings may attract male attention, threaten societal morality, and undermine women’s chastity—even if they're fully covered.
Others, however, argue the restrictions are inconsistent. “If a woman can drive a bus or truck and earn people’s trust, why not a motorcycle?” sociologist Maryam Yousefi asked in an interview with Iran newspaper.
Rights groups have repeatedly called for change. On International Women’s Day this year, 30 organizations demanded an end to gender-based discrimination.
The sealing of the café has once more underscored the clash between social realities and restrictions, leaving women riders caught between growing public visibility and an unresolved legal void.
