Amid Iran’s Economic Crisis, Judiciary Chief Again Frames Women’s Hijab as a “Security Issue”
While Iran’s economy grapples with severe inflation, the collapse of the rial’s value, drug shortages, an energy crisis, and a sharp decline in production, the head of Iran’s judiciary has once again elevated the issue of women’s dress code to a security level. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei has asked the country’s chief prosecutor to place the fight against voluntary hijab on the agenda of the National Security Council, saying: “What is necessary is to put an end to this situation.”
On Monday, September 28, 2026 (Mehr 6 in the Iranian calendar), Ejei characterized women’s voluntary dress as “nakedness” during a meeting with judicial officials and claimed that all people are concerned about it—an assertion not supported by any independent survey or data. He also asked the chief prosecutor to seek assistance from the police, the Interior Ministry, and prosecutors across Iran to combat this condition, saying there should be no fear of “mob rule and clamor.”
These remarks come as Iran’s economic and livelihood problems have cast an increasingly severe shadow over citizens’ lives. According to a report from the UK House of Commons Library, Iran’s annual inflation rate reached 84 percent in August 2026, and the rial’s value fell to its lowest historical level. The same report indicates continued electricity blackouts, fuel problems, and a decline in the country’s economic activity.
The health sector also faces alarming conditions. Al Jazeera reported in September that approximately 800 types of medicines face shortages in Iran, with around 90 of them being essential and life-saving drugs. The prices of some medications have multiplied over the past year, including a 220 percent increase in gabapentin prices and a 375 percent increase in acetaminophen prices.
According to official data, Iran’s economy shrank by 10.1 percent between March 21 and June 20, 2026, compared to the same period the previous year. The oil and gas sector contracted by 26.4 percent during the same period, while the industrial and mining sector declined by 14.7 percent.
Nevertheless, under these circumstances, a significant portion of the government structure continues to dedicate considerable judicial and security resources to controlling women’s dress. This is not a new phenomenon; Human Rights Watch has reported that in recent years, the Islamic Republic has pursued women and girls who reject mandatory hijab, confiscated their vehicles, closed their businesses, and used surveillance tools and city cameras to identify women not wearing mandatory hijab.
Meanwhile, pressure to enforce mandatory hijab has not been limited to Ejei’s statements. In September, Islamic Republic officials announced the drafting of new mandatory hijab guidelines in universities, and an official close to the Supreme Leader’s representative office in universities said: “Existing regulations must be enforced more strictly.”
Even during wartime, the hijab issue has not been removed from the agenda of some Islamic Republic officials. Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, previously acknowledged that due to “wartime conditions,” the government cannot currently engage in the “hijab front” to the extent it wishes—statements that suggest the issue of women’s dress remains, in the view of portions of the power structure, a subject for government and cultural pursuit.
Conversely, human rights organizations view mandatory hijab as an issue related to women’s fundamental rights. UN experts previously warned about the repressive enforcement of hijab laws in Iran, stating that punishing and forcibly dealing with women who do not comply with the government’s required hijab constitutes a violation of women’s and girls’ rights.
Ejei’s latest remarks have now raised an urgent question anew: In a country where families face rising food prices, drug shortages, power cuts, the collapse of the national currency’s value, and declining purchasing power, why is dealing with women’s voluntary dress choice once again being pursued at the level of the National Security Council and the judiciary?
For many critics of the Islamic Republic, the issue is not merely about hijab; the issue is what the government considers “necessary.” At a time when economic data points to one of the most difficult periods in contemporary Iranian economic history, senior judicial officials’ insistence on intensifying measures against women’s choice of dress has once again highlighted the question of whether the power structure’s priority is solving people’s everyday problems or controlling their lifestyle.
Ultimately, what is unfolding on Iran’s streets is not merely a disagreement over the type of clothing. In recent years, many women have openly stood against mandatory hijab, and rather than accepting this choice as part of individual freedom, the government continues to use the language of law, police, courts, and security mechanisms to impose it—an approach that has been severely criticized by international human rights bodies.
