Mohammad Movahedi-Azad threatens women lawyers with disqualification over unveiling

Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the Islamic Republic's attorney general, threatened women lawyers with disqualification for not observing the compulsory hijab at the swearing-in ceremony of 505 lawyers of the Judiciary's Lawyers Centre on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. He said all judicial units have been ordered to monitor lawyers' compliance with what he calls "Islamic norms".

According to the attorney general, if a violation is established, disciplinary proceedings and disqualification of the lawyer will be put on the agenda. Movahedi-Azad specifically criticised women lawyers who put on a headscarf when entering court and take it off after leaving. He also urged lawyers to be promoters of the hijab themselves and to make their colleagues observe it.

Judiciary oversight of lawyers' dress

This threat is part of a process that targets the independence of the legal profession. The Islamic Republic's Judiciary had earlier set up a body called the "General Office for Supervision of Lawyers" and issued a circular that monitors women lawyers' hijab not only in judicial venues but also online. Now the licence of a lawyer who is supposed to defend her client's rights against this very apparatus is tied to her clothing.

A few days ago, Naser Atabati, head of the Tehran Justice Department, also announced judicial action against unveiled women. The pressure on lawyers is growing at a time when lawyers of political prisoners have themselves been targeted for arrest; among them Amirsalar Davoudi, a lawyer for political prisoners, whose arrest the Isfahan Justice Department attributed to the publication of an audio file.

Compulsory hijab: from the street to the courtroom

After the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising and the Dey uprising, a large number of women in Iran have abandoned the compulsory hijab in the street, and the Islamic Republic has turned to administrative and occupational tools to force them back: deprivation of services, impoundment of cars and now a threat to the livelihood of women whose job is to defend the rights of others.

The Islamic Republic's attorney general has tied women's law licences to observing the compulsory hijab.