ARGUMENT

An expert's point of view on a current event.

What the Hijab Protests Mean for Iran’s Clerical Class

The supreme leader’s stance could become a source of widening divide.

By Alex Vatanka, the director of the Iran Program and a senior fellow in the Frontier Europe Initiative at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Iranians march during a pro-hijab rally.

Iranians march during a pro-hijab rally in the capital, Tehran, on Sept. 23. STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022, 3:19 PM

The latest round of mass protests in Iran erupted over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman. She died on Sept. 16 at the hands of the so-called morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s rules on mandatory veiling in public.

Amini’s tragic death is yet another reminder of how the Islamist rulers in Tehran remain tone-deaf to the demands of the Iranian people. Opposition to mandatory wearing of the veil, or hijab, is one in a long list of public grievances.

The violence that led to Amini’s death was not accidental. It is part and parcel of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s attitude toward any political dissent. He continues to believe that violent repression will drive protesters to retreat. But his policy choices are only deepening raw public anger against the Islamic Republic. Not only is Khamenei inciting the Iranian people against the regime, but his insistence on mandatory hijab-wearing is splitting the Islamic clerical class.

 

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