Iran’s parliament on Wednesday approved a bill that imposes stiffer penalties on women who do not wear the compulsory headscarf in public places, official media reported.
“Members of Parliament approved the implementation of the ‘hijab and chastity’ bill for a three-year trial period,” IRNA news agency reported.
Iran's government has hardened its tone in recent months against the growing number of women going out bareheaded, especially in major cities. The bill toughens penalties for anyone prosecuted for breaking the strict dress code imposed on women, one of the ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic since the fall of the Shah in 1979.
It sets financial penalties for “promoting nudity” or “mocking the hijab” in the media and on social networks, as well as fines and bans on leaving the country for business owners whose employees do not wear veils.
The bill states that “any person who” commits the offence of not wearing a veil or wearing inappropriate clothing in cooperation with foreign governments, media, groups or organisations hostile to the Islamic Republic, or doing so in an organised manner, will be sentenced to a prison term of 5 to 10 years, the bill states.
To become law, the draft must be approved by the Council of Guardians of the Constitution.
The legislation comes four days after the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died on 16 September 2022 after being arrested by the morality police for allegedly breaking the dress code.
