Despite fierce protests from society, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi wants to maintain strict police checks on women for headscarf offences.

“Respecting the headscarf is not only a religious, but also a political and legal obligation for Iranian women,” said Raisi on Sunday. There is therefore “no doubt whatsoever” that checks must continue to be carried out consistently, the ultra-conservative cleric said, according to the presidential office’s website.

Since the beginning of the new Persian year on March 20, police and moral guardians have once again stepped up their crackdown on headscarf violations. Videos on social media show that there have even been clashes between women and moral guards during some checks.

The death of the young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022 sparked nationwide protests against the Islamic regime and its dress code. Amini had been detained by the moral guards because of an allegedly ill-fitting headscarf. A few days later, she died at the police station, allegedly as a result of police violence.

In solidarity with the young Kurdish woman, more and more Iranian women have since ignored the compulsory headscarf. Islamic circles in Iran have also criticized the strict police controls. They are convinced that women cannot be turned into pious and devout Muslims through violence.