University Protest
A young woman stripped down to her underwear at an Iranian university on Saturday, reportedly in protest of the country’s strict religious dress code.
The incident, captured on video and shared widely across social media, occurred at a branch of the Islamic Azad University. In the footage, security guards are seen detaining the woman, whose identity has not been disclosed.
Amir Mahjob, a spokesperson for the university, issued a statement on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), saying that at the police station, authorities determined that the woman had been experiencing severe mental pressure and appeared to have a mental disorder.
However, her actions have sparked widespread debate, with some questioning whether her undressing was an expression of personal distress or a deliberate protest against Iran’s strict hijab laws.
Social media reactions quickly followed the viral video, with many suggesting that the woman’s actions reflected a deeper resistance to the regime’s enforcement of compulsory veiling. One user, identified as Lei La on X, commented, “For most women, being in their underwear in public is one of their worst nightmares. This is a reaction to the authorities’ stubborn insistence on the mandatory hijab.”
This perspective aligned with the growing unrest among many Iranian women who are increasingly defying the country’s compulsory dress code, particularly since the wave of protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
Amini, a young Kurdish woman, died in police custody after being arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules.
The nationwide protests sparked by Amini’s death saw many women publicly discarding their veils in defiance of the government’s strict dress regulations, which led to a violent crackdown by security forces.
The fate of the woman involved in the recent university incident remains unclear. However, according to a report by the mass-circulation daily Hamshahri, an anonymous source indicated that the woman would likely be transferred to a mental health facility after an investigation into her actions concluded.
This event adds to the growing tension in Iran over personal freedoms, especially regarding women’s rights and the ongoing fight against the country’s compulsory veiling laws.
