On a busy sidewalk outside a café, a group of young people, many of them women, bob their heads to the beat of “Seven Nation Army,” by the White Stripes. Huddled around a live band, some shake their hair while others rhythmically swing.
The scene wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in most cities. But a clip of it went viral, viewed by millions on X and Instagram, because it happened in Tehran. Western rock music is mostly banned in the Islamic Republic, and women are forbidden to dance in public, smoke, and—most important—bare their hair. Iran’s mandatory-hijab law requires women to cover their head and entire body, except for their face and hands below the wrist. Showing so much as an ear or an elbow could count as a crime.
In September 2022, a young woman was picked up by Tehran’s morality police for sporting “improper hijab.” She died in custody. A mass revolt ensued—one that lasted for months and demanded an end not just to the mandatory hijab, but to the Islamic Republic as well. The movement failed to achieve that larger goal, but it did radically change public life in Iran. Technically, the hijab remains mandatory. Yet for the first time since its founding, the regime has lost the ability to enforce that law.
The evidence of this failure is visible everywhere.
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