Four years after Mahsa Amini died in police custody following her detention over Iran’s mandatory hijab law, increasing numbers of Iranian women are appearing in public without head scarves. Amini’s death became the catalyst for the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement. The defiance has grown amid war with the United States and mounting political and economic pressures. While Iran’s so-called morality police have largely disappeared from public life across major cities, questions remain about whether the relaxation is a tactical retreat rather than a policy shift.
