Fact Check: Iran Has Not Abolished The Legal Mandate Of Hijab; Viral Video Is From 2022 Protests

For the past several years, there have been demands in Iran to abolish the legal mandate of wearing the hijab. These demands intensified into protests in 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who allegedly died after being detained by Iranian security forces for not wearing the hijab properly. After Amini's death, strong protests against the hijab took place in Iran, with participants not only from Iran but also from many other countries.

In this context, a video is going viral on social media. The viral video shows a woman dancing. The woman is also seen burning her hijab. A large crowd is seen standing around in the video. The video is being shared with the claim that Iran has ended the legal obligation of the hijab. Now, whether to wear the hijab or not will be the choice of the women there. There will be no legal compulsion.

Vishvas News found in its investigation that Iran has not abolished the legal mandate of the hijab. This law still exists. Furthermore, the video being shared with this claim is related to the protests against the hijab that took place in Iran in 2022. However, according to some reports, Iran's morality police have now been removed from public places, noting that the ‘morality police’ has not been completely disbanded and still legally exists.

What is in the Viral Post?

On October 27, an Instagram user named 'Hindu Narayan Jaat Panchered' shared the viral post, writing: "Big Breaking. Iran has ended the legal obligation of the Hijab. Now, whether to wear the hijab or not will depend on the will of the women there; no legal obligation. The people of Iran are on the roads celebrating collectively by burning hijabs. Here in our country, people want hijabs even in schools and colleges."

An archived version of the post can be seen here.

Investigation

We decided to investigate the viral post in three parts. In the first part, we investigated the viral video. In the second part, we verified the authenticity of the viral claim regarding Iran's hijab law. In the third part, we investigated the current status of Iran's morality police.

First Part (The Viral Video)

To begin our investigation, we first extracted keyframes from the viral video and searched them using Google Lens. Upon searching, we found this video uploaded on September 21, 2022, on a verified Instagram handle named 'mamamiaaus'. According to the provided information, after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran, women are protesting and burning their hijabs.

Based on this lead, we continued our investigation and found a related news report dated September 21, 2022, on the website spectator.co.uk. The report stated that in protest against the death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini after being held in custody, women in Iran are taking bold steps. They are publicly taking off their hijabs and burning them, dancing in the streets with their hair open.

We found this video on several other social media handles and news portals from September 2022. In all these places, the video was described as being from the protests against the hijab in Iran.

Second Part (Hijab Law in Iran)

The viral post claims that the Iranian government has ended the legal obligation of the hijab for women. It is worth noting that the 1979 Iranian Revolution is said to have brought major changes to the lives of women there. After the revolution, the new Islamic government established rules making the hijab mandatory for all women. (BBC Report).

According to information provided by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code is considered the main legal basis for the mandatory hijab in Iran. This article states that if a woman does not wear a hijab in a public place, she can be given an administrative punishment.

According to a BBC report from December 17, 2024, Iran's National Security Council has temporarily suspended the controversial "Hijab and Chastity Law," which was set to take effect on Friday. It was reported that this new law included strict penalties for showing hair, hands, or feet, which human rights activists had objected to.

A March 24, 2025, report in The Guardian claimed that the Iranian government still maintains a strict stance on the mandatory hijab in the country. It was reported that the police are using digital technologies to identify women who violate these rules.

According to an October 14, 2025, report of the Iranian news website Iran International, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Ali Asghar Jahangir, confirmed that the hijab law is still in effect in the country. This statement came at a time when the debate over the mandatory hijab has intensified again in the country, and cases of its public violation appear to be increasing.

Third Part (Morality Police in Iran)

In this part, we tried to find out about Iran's morality police (Gasht-e-Ershad). It should be noted that Iran's morality police is a special unit that detains those who violate hijab or dress code laws or orders them to wear loose clothing or the hijab in public places. Generally, it monitors people's compliance with the law. The morality police was established during the tenure of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After the hijab became mandatory in 1983, this unit hit the streets in 2006 to enforce the Islamic dress code. (DW Report).

According to a BBC report from September 17, 2024, Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian said that the "morality police" will no longer bother women for not wearing the mandatory hijab. This statement came just days after the UN warned that women in the country still face violent punishments for breaking the strict dress code.

An opinion piece published on Iran International on October 23, 2025, claimed that Iran's "Gasht-e-Ershad" or "Morality Police" still formally exists. However, its presence on the streets has significantly decreased compared to before. Legally, wearing the hijab is still mandatory, but at the ground level, the situation is changing, especially in large cities. The report stated that the government has made changes to the functioning of this unit. Its activities are not as aggressive as before. It is believed that due to women's protest movements and international pressure, the government has shown some leniency in this matter. However, the "morality police" has not been completely disbanded and still legally exists.

On the same issue, a Washington Post report from October 27, 2025, stated that the law mandating the hijab in Iran is still in effect, but its enforcement is not as strict as before. In Tehran and other cities, many women are seen on the streets without a hijab or in loose clothing, and the police mostly say nothing. However, arrests still occur in some places, such as in the city of Rasht, where some cafes were recently temporarily closed for women not adhering to the dress code.

Speaking to Vishvas News about this, Iranian journalist Fatima Karim Khan said, "There has been no such order from the government regarding the abolition of the hijab law. This is completely false. However, the morality police are no longer in public places, which is why people can leave home without a hijab, but the hijab law is still in place, so the hijab is still mandatory."

We then proceeded to conduct a social scan of the Instagram user 'Hindu Narayan Jaat Panchered' who shared the fake post. We found that the user has 9,325 followers.

Conclusion: Vishvas News found in its investigation that the viral video is from the 2022 protests against the hijab in Iran. Furthermore, Iran has NOT abolished the legal compulsion of the hijab; this law still exists.