Iran International
Censors forced Iran’s moderate newspaper Ham-Mihan offline on Tuesday after hardliners condemned its use of a photo of a veiled woman on its front page for a report about a controversial rape case.
Centering around the Islamic veil which conservatives view as a sacrosanct symbol of Iran's Islamic identity which they are empowered to force on society, the dispute exposes deepening cultural and political rifts inside the country.
The image, which was intended to represent the alleged victim symbolically, drew ire from conservative elements who accused the newspaper of allegedly insulting Islamic values and undermining the hijab.
State TV presenter Mohammad-Reza Shahbazi harshly criticized the choice, saying, “Virtuous and veiled women are pure from the filth you wallow in day and night, which sometimes reeks like this (rape case). Put up a picture of one of your own kind instead.”
Editor-in-chief Mohammad-Javad Rouh said the alleged victim did not wish to reveal her identity and that using an unveiled photo as a symbolic image was not possible under the Islamic Republic’s media restrictions.
Rouh rejected claims that the paper had targeted the hijab.
“We did not speak against the hijab, nor did we intend to create controversy,” Rouh said. He added that the newspaper had fulfilled its journalistic duty by interviewing both the complainant and the accused’s lawyer in what he called “a balanced, professional report.”
The hardline website Mashregh News claimed, citing an informed source, that Iran’s Press Supervisory Board had already issued three formal warnings to Ham-Mihan in recent months.
It alleged that one of the paper’s violations was serious enough to be referred to court and that “a judicial verdict is imminent," without elaborating.
Mashregh further accused the paper of intentionally publishing the rape case article by journalist Elaheh Mohammadi — who was imprisoned in 2022 for reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini — shortly before a potential suspension.
“The behavior of Ham-Mihan’s managers in assigning a project to a journalist with a history of arrest for security issues, whose past reporting triggered one of the country’s deepest crises, is now under review,” the outlet wrote.
Hardliners on the offensive
State-aligned outlets quickly turned the incident into a political storm. The official Mehr news agency said Ham-Mihan had been taken down for “violating professional ethics.” Tasnim, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, accused the paper of “a deliberate insult to the traditions of a large portion of Iranian women.”
Online, conservative commentators called the newspaper’s decision immoral.
Filmmaker Mikail Diani claimed it showed “malice and an effort to create social division,” while Fatemeh Raygani, a philosophy researcher, wrote on X that the report had “polluted the symbol of the black chador with a story of (alleged) sexual assault.”
Not the first time
The closure of Ham-Mihan underscores the precarious position of moderate media in Iran, where professional reporting on sensitive social issues can quickly provoke accusations of immorality or political subversion, leaving editors and reporters under intense scrutiny from authorities and the public alike.
Ham-Mihan, run by Gholamhossein Karbaschi — a senior member of the centrist Executives of Construction Party and a former Tehran mayor — was relaunched in July 2022 after previous suspensions.
It has faced closure twice before, in 1999 and 2008. Since its relaunch in 2022, it has drawn scrutiny for its coverage of gender and social issues.
Karbaschi told Eco Iran a few days ago that several of his reporters were summoned and threatened by Revolutionary Guards intelligence agents after publishing a piece on challenges facing female heads of households.
“What threat can a newspaper with a circulation of one or two thousand pose to the state?” he asked.
The dispute comes amid intensifying pressure on Iran’s press. According to the Defense of Free Information organization (DeFFI), at least 95 journalists and outlets faced legal or security action in the first half of 2025, with six reporters temporarily detained and collective prison sentences exceeding 22 years.
Some observers believe the main reason for the action taken against Ham-Mihan was reporting the alleged rape case itself.
Veteran reformist columnist Ahmad Zeidabadi wrote: “In a country where you can’t even report on a private criminal case, what need is there for newspapers at all? State TV and Kayhan (which is funded by the Supreme Leader’s office) are enough.”
Demonstrations were reported in cities including Zanjan, Tabriz, Tehran, Esfahan, Gilan and Fars, with participants chanting slogans that reflected both economic hardship and political frustration, lapse in their pay and benefits.
In Zanjan and Tabriz, retirees gathered outside government buildings, chanting: “People's rights must be settled,” and “Yesterday's warriors are today's claimants. Yesterday's fighters are today's rights-seekers.”
The term “warriors” refers to veterans of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, many of whom now face financial insecurity.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry issued a confidential warning in August, anticipating serious fallout from the potential return of UN sanctions under the snapback mechanism.
In Tehran and Esfahan, protesters voiced anger at financial mismanagement, shouting: “The major shareholder devoured our rights,” and “Don't delay—settle our dues today.”
Some chants directly challenged official narratives, with demonstrators declaring: “Our enemy is right here; they lie that it's America.”
In Gilan and Fars provinces, retirees accused both parliament and the government of deceiving the public. “Parliament and government both lie to the nation,” one group chanted, while another called out: “Cry out against this endless injustice!”
Price hike on rise
The protests come amid a sharp rise in consumer prices following the reactivation of UN sanctions by European powers last month. Basic goods have become increasingly unaffordable for many Iranians, particularly those on fixed incomes.
A grocer in Tehran shared a video showing his dwindling stock of rice, lamenting the price rise: “Top-grade Pakistani rice was 14.5 million rials ($13) before. A month later, it hit 21 million rials ($19). How can a head of a family with monthly income of 20 million rials ($18) could afford just for rice?”
Iran’s minimum monthly wage for 2025 stands at 104 million rials ($96), leaving many unable to cope with the rising cost of living.
Another woman posted a video comparing rice prices year-over-year: “This rice cost 11 million rials ($10) last year. Now it’s 33 million rials ($30). Khamenei, for 46 years you chased missiles, war, death to this and that, conquering this and that peak. Today, every calamity you inflicted is boomeranging on you.”
In another clip, a woman displayed two plastic bags of fruit—bananas, oranges, apples, and grapes—costing 20 million rials ($18). She narrated a comparison during the video. “In 1977, a Mercedes Benz coupe was 4 million rials (equal to $3 now). Now I pay this amount for fruit that vanishes in two days.”
A man driving through Tehran recorded a video responding to Interior Ministry claims that there has been no “visible shock” to the economy due to reimposition of UN sanctions.
“Want to see shock? Check the commodity basket. You're unfit to run the country. You must go. Islamic Republic corruption must end so someone honorable can govern.”
Meanwhile, an Iranian health official warned last week that about 120,000 Iranians die each year from nutrition-related causes, as rising food prices and declining consumption of staples such as dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables deepen the country’s public health crisis.
“All kinds of ceremonies, gatherings, advertising or sale of items related to what is known as ‘Halloween’ are completely prohibited in all public and business places,” Iran’s Chamber of Guilds said in a statement, citing the need to protect “cultural, religious and social values.”
It said police would take legal action against violators, including closing venues and referring managers to judicial authorities.
The move comes amid long-standing unease among Iranian authorities over the growing popularity of Western holidays such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween among younger Iranians.
Officials and clerics have often described such events as cultural imports that conflict with Islamic values.
Young Iranians join global festivities
Despite the restrictions, public enthusiasm for Western-style festivities has continued to grow. In recent years, decorated shopfronts and cafes in Tehran, Isfahan and other cities have displayed Christmas trees and ornaments, while young people have gathered to mark holidays that once passed largely unnoticed.
The trend has fallen afoul with authorities. Two years ago, hundreds of Iranians gathered outside Isfahan’s historic Vank Cathedral, an ancient Armenian church, trying to attend a Christmas celebration before police dispersed the crowd.
Last December, social media videos showed people in Tehran’s shopping districts posing beside Christmas trees and taking photos with men dressed as Santa Claus, suggesting that such celebrations continue to grow despite official restrictions.
Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism are officially recognized religions in Iran, but conversion from Islam remains punishable by death, and public displays of non-Islamic observances are tightly restricted.