Iran mulling amendments to women’s dress code in a bid to calm anti-Hijab protests: Report

Iran's officials have stated that the authorities are finalising plans to overhaul the enforcement of laws around women’s attire in the country. The latest development comes as hundreds of businesses in Tehran and other Iranian cities shut down on Monday to begin a three-day strike called by anti-regime protesters, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

Following widespread protests, which prompted global condemnation of Iran's clerical regime and attracted sanctions from the US, Canada among several EU nations, Iran's authorities have begun bending the knee to meet the demands of anti-hijab protestors, even as news of its brutal crackdown on the protests continue to surface. The latest announcement by regime officials comes as demonstrations have continued against Iran's draconian laws, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman of Iranian-Kurdish descent. Amini was killed in the custody of Iran's morality police after being arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes pertaining to Hijab.

One major step taken by the regime was announced as the disbanding of the infamous morality police. Furthermore, the enforcement of laws requiring women to cover their heads with the Islamic veil known as the Hijab has also reportedly been eased.

Demonstrators cite the regime's steps as a farce to quell the protests

It remains unclear how far Iranian lawmakers intend to go in changing the system pertaining to the law on enforcement of women's attire in the country, or if the discussion of new moves to address at least some of the grievances by the demonstrators is a ploy intended to defuse the protests without major concessions.

The law pertaining to hijab in Iran is seen by the country's ruling clerics as a pillar of the Islamic Republic, one that many conservatives believe will jeopardise the system’s theocratic underpinnings if surrendered.

A spokesperson for Iran's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Morality Police) stated Monday that its objective to enforce the hijab laws “has now ended”, reported Jamaran, an Iranian news site. He further revealed that “new methods" which are "more up-to-date and more precise” were under consideration by the regime.

Meanwhile, many protestors have cited the steps being taken by the Iranian regime as farce which are “misleading news to distract people from the calls (to protest) or to create divisions and doubts" among the protestors, a 24-year-old female activist told the WSJ. Moreover, amid the latest steps undertaken by the Iranian authorities to quell the protests, calls have surfaced to organise mass protests against the Iranian administration. However, past calls for mass protests have attracted only modest participation despite widespread support from the Iranian public against the Iranian regime.