Mahsa Amini

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed doubts about new legislation imposing tougher penalties on women who flout mandatory hijab regulations.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women in Iran have been required to cover their hair in public.

Human rights organizations are expressing concern over the fate of a student from Iran who was arrested for walking around in her underwear outside a university in Tehran. Organizations are concerned that the student may be subjected to torture at the psychiatric hospital where she was taken.

A woman flashes a thumbs-up as she takes part in a protest gathering called by the "Woman Life Freedom Collective" (Femme Vie Liberte) and the Association Phenix in support of the Iranian student, believed to be named Ahou Daryaei, arrested after stripping to her underwear in Tehran, by the Pantheon monument near the Sorbonne University in Paris on Nov. 5, 2025.

The young Iranian woman, who publicly stripped down to her underwear as a form of protest while walking on the grounds of an Iranian university, does not pose a security issue but is described as a “disturbed individual” receiving treatment, according to a government spokesperson.

The election of the first reformist president in nearly two decades by Iranian voters has fueled expectations of change in both the domestic and foreign policy landscapes, as new President Masoud Pezeshkian set to unveil his proposed cabinet.

Iran on Sunday announced the six candidates, mostly conservatives, approved for the June 28 election to replace president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.

The candidates announced by the interior ministry were selected from 80 registered hopefuls by the Guardian Council, which oversees elections in the Islamic republic.

The violent repression of peaceful protests and discrimination against women and girls by Tehran led to serious rights violations, many amounting to crimes against humanity, a U.N. experts probe said on March 8.

Like Mahsa Amini, who died in custody last year, Geravand could become a symbol of resistance

Iran's government is sending women for counseling in an effort to enforce regulations requiring them to cover their hair. Healthcare organizations have warned that the country's judiciary is appropriating mental medicine for its own ends, but others have cited the action as evidence that the government is unable to uphold hijab rules, France 24 reported.