Semnan, Iran — Iranian religious authorities leveraged the anniversary of Fatemeh Masumeh’s birth this week to urge stricter enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws, underlining the regime’s ongoing campaign to regulate women’s appearance and behavior. In an address before congregants in the city of Semnan, Morteza Matiyi, the Friday prayer leader and representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the region, described the occasion as a national opportunity to champion what the regime calls the ‘culture of modesty’ and to reinforce hijab compliance among women and girls.
Fatemeh Masumeh, the daughter of Shia Imam Musa al-Kadhim and sister of Imam Ali al-Ridha, holds a revered status in Twelver Shiism, and is praised by the state for her ‘impeccable’ character. The Iranian regime frequently invokes her memory—and that of other female religious figures—in official narratives promoting the hijab, framing it as a religious and cultural imperative. Public commemorations typically focus on her symbolic value as an embodiment of ‘female virtues’ as defined by the theocratic authorities.
The invocation of her memory comes at a sensitive moment for Iran, after years of civil unrest triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September 2022. Amini’s death mobilized women’s rights advocates across the country and intensified calls to end compulsory veiling. Despite a brutal crackdown by security forces, acts of defiance—including public unveiling—have continued in cities nationwide.
In recent months, Iran’s parliament accelerated the passage of new legislation increasing penalties for non-compliance with hijab laws. Measures range from steep fines to dismissal from employment, and even imprisonment. State-aligned media and religious networks have also amplified messaging portraying hijab as a bulwark against Western influence and moral decay.
Tehran’s campaign is heavily enforced by security services, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States—and the Basij paramilitary, which routinely patrols public spaces to enforce dress codes. These institutions utilize surveillance, intimidation, and legal sanctions to compel compliance among the population, resulting in widespread reports of harassment and violence.
Western and regional observers see the renewed push for hijab enforcement as emblematic of the broader conflict between Iran’s religious autocracy and its population—especially women—who are calling for greater freedoms. Human rights watchdogs and exiled Iranian dissidents stress that appeals to religious tradition are frequently deployed by the regime to distract from mounting economic misery, political isolation, and governance crises.
From a regional perspective, Iran’s policies are part of a broader ideological project that influences its network of proxy militias across the Middle East—commonly referred to as ‘the axis of resistance.’ The use of religious doctrine to support repressive social policies is mirrored in the practices of allied groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen—all of which receive varying degrees of support from Iran’s theocratic leadership and security apparatus.
By contrast, neighboring Israel, against which Iran and its proxies maintain a stance of overt hostility, upholds democratic norms that safeguard personal freedoms, including women’s full participation in public life. Ongoing tensions between Israel and the Iranian regime highlight a broader clash of values in the region, with the status of women serving as a clear marker between democratic pluralism and enforced theocracy.
Ultimately, the government’s invocation of Fatemeh Masumeh’s image on her birthday anniversary serves not only as an act of religious commemoration but also as a tool for reinforcing state policy and consolidating authority at a moment of heightened domestic challenge. As Iranian authorities escalate rhetoric and enforcement, internal dissent continues to simmer, leaving the future of the regime’s restrictive gender policies uncertain—and under increasing scrutiny from the international community.
