A woman removes the turban of a cleric at Tehran airport

A video spread on social media showed a non-veiled Iranian woman at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran taking off the turban of a cleric and placing it on her head, which sparked widespread controversy in Iranian circles.

The incident occurred in the middle of a verbal altercation between the woman and the cleric, where the woman appeared angry and asked him: “Are you jealous? Are you Shiite, perhaps Ali?” Then she continued searching for her husband at the airport, calling his name and saying: “What did you do to my husband?” This behavior sparked mixed reactions on social media platforms.

According to media close to the Revolutionary Guards, the woman was arrested for a short period after the incident.

On the other hand, the “Mashreq News” website, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted its sources as saying that the incident “has nothing to do with the hijab,” and explained that the woman who appeared in the video suffers from “psychological problems,” which raises questions about the real motives behind her behavior.

This incident comes at a time when Iranian society is witnessing escalating feelings of anger against strict laws related to the hijab, especially after the killing of the young woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022 at the hands of the “moral police,” an incident that sparked widespread protests in Iran. The recent period has also witnessed many similar incidents, as some women abandon the hijab in public places in defiance of these laws.

A video shared on social media shows an unveiled Iranian woman arguing with a cleric at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. The woman is seen taking the cleric’s turban and using it as a headscarf.
The exact date of the video and the reason for the altercation remain clear. pic.twitter.com/yLclkCMd04

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 6, 2025