Iran's parliament has approved a bill that imposes heavier penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory Islamic headscarf in public, as well as those who support them. The move comes shortly after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by the morality police for violating Iran's dress code. Her death sparked months of protests, with many calling for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy. The bill also extends punishments to business owners who serve women not wearing the headscarf and activists who organize against it. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison if the offense is organized.

The bill was approved by 152 lawmakers in Iran's parliament and now requires ratification by the Guardian Council, a clerical body that serves as a constitutional watchdog. The demonstrations that followed Amini's death, which occurred on September 16, 2022, subsided earlier this year due to a crackdown on dissent that resulted in over 500 protesters being killed and more than 22,000 being detained.

However, many women continued to defy the dress code, leading to a new campaign to enforce it over the summer. Iran's clerical rulers view the hijab law as an integral part of the Islamic Republic and have blamed the protests on Western nations, although no evidence has been provided. The protesters have stated that they are motivated by anger towards the dress code, as well as what they perceive as corruption and poor governance by the country's ruling clerics. The bill, if ratified, would take effect for a preliminary period of three years. The situation in Iran is still tense, as evidenced by a separate incident in which a cleric was shot to death in a personal dispute in the town of Sejas. Authorities have detained the assailant in this case.