Middle East Briefs
Parallel to the Center’s scholarly work, Middle East Briefs provides a brief analysis of a single issue at the top of the region’s political, social, or economic agenda. Targeted primarily at decision-makers and opinion leaders, the publication was launched in 2005.
Latest Brief
December 2024 – The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Chastity and Hijab Law and the Weaponization of Women’s Economic Vulnerabilities
Hadi Kahalzadeh
Middle East Brief 162 (Summary) — On December 14, 2024, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council halted the controversial “Chastity and Hijab” bill from becoming law. The bill, which proposed steep economic penalties for violating mandatory dress codes, drew widespread criticism, including from President Masoud Pezeshkian, who warned it would spark public unrest. Its uncertain fate raises pressing questions: Why are hardliners pushing for stricter hijab laws after the Women, Life, Freedom movement of 2022? How do financial penalties signal a shift in the state’s control over women’s bodies and social compliance?
In this Middle East Brief, Hadi Kahalzadeh argues the bill reflects the recognition that women’s economic advancements have bolstered their social presence, challenging the state’s prescribed social order. Yet women remain vulnerable to economic hardship, worsened by U.S. sanctions. The bill exploits these vulnerabilities, leveraging poverty and unemployment risks to reinforce the regime’s social order. By tying economic security to adherence to dress codes, it turns the decision to wear the hijab from a personal choice into an economic necessity.
Hadi Kahalzadeh is a junior research fellow at the Crown Center.