Iran has paused the process of implementing a new, stricter law on women’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, an official said.
The controversial law, which was approved by the parliament in September 2023, will not be sent to the government as planned this week, according to one of the country's vice presidents. The development effectively means that Iran has halted enacting the legislation.
The law levies harsher punishments for women who refuse to wear the hijab and for businesses that serve them, penalties previously rejected by Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian as he tries to restart talks with the West over sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
“According to the discussions held, it was decided that this law will not be referred to the government by the parliament for now,” Shahram Dabiri, the vice president in charge of parliamentary affairs, was quoted as saying in an interview Monday with the pro-reform Ham Mihan daily.
The decision to halt the legislation — at least temporarily — was reached by top executive, legislative and judiciary bodies, The Associated Press quoted Dabiri as saying. At the moment, it is “not feasible to implement this bill,” he added, without elaborating.
Had the bill passed to the government, Iran's president would have had little room to maneuver. By law, he’s required to endorse the bill within five days, after which it would have taken effect in 15 days. The president has no authority to veto it.
Pezeshkian could try to convince Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, to halt the bill.
If the bill had been enacted, Pezeshkian could also refuse to act on it or urge police not to enforce it, setting up a potential constitutional crisis that hard-liners could try to exploit to weaken him.
The president had earlier described the law as having “many questions and ambiguities.”
