Iran Pauses Process to Implement Stricter Headscarf Law for Women, Official Says

FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Iran Pauses Process to Implement Stricter Headscarf Law for Women, Official Says

FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Iranian women, some without wearing their mandatory headscarves, walk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

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.”



Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
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Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with President Donald Trump but the meeting needs to be prepared to make it productive.

"I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results," Putin said in televised remarks. He added that he would be "pleased" to meet Trump.

Putin hailed the "positive" talks between senior Russian and US officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, noting that the parties agreed to restore the tattered diplomatic relations.

He expressed his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for holding the talks in Riyadh.

"In my opinion, we have taken a first step to resume work in a variety of areas that are of mutual interest," Putin said. These included issues relating to the Middle East, global energy markets and cooperation in space, he said.

"Without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States, it is impossible to resolve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis."

Ukraine and European governments were not invited to the talks in the Saudi capital, which heightened their concern that Russia and the United States might cut a deal that ignores their vital security interests.

But Putin said Russia had never rejected talks with the Europeans or with Kyiv, and it was they who had refused to talk to Moscow.

'NO ONE IS EXCLUDING UKRAINE,' PUTIN SAYS

"If they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations," he said.

"No one is excluding Ukraine," he added, saying that there was therefore no need for a "hysterical" reaction to the US-Russia talks.

Putin praised the American's "restraint" in the face of what he called "boorish" behavior by US allies.

He said he would be "happy to meet with Donald".

"But we are in such a situation that it is not enough to meet to have tea, coffee, sit and talk about the future. We need to ensure that our teams prepare issues that are extremely important for both the United States and Russia, including - but not only - on the Ukrainian track, in order to reach solutions acceptable to both sides."

Putin said this would be no easy task. He said that Trump himself, who during the US election campaign repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, was now talking about a period of six months.

He said this was "natural" because Trump had simply begun to receive fresh information that changed his approach.