Mohammad-Hossein Omid: University of Tehran sets up a "hijab task force" for students

Mohammad-Hossein Omid, president of the University of Tehran, announced on Monday, 19 October 2026, that the university set up a "hijab task force to deal with the issue of students' dress" five to six months ago. According to him, the task force examines reports about students' dress and behaviour described as "improper".

Omid explained that the hijab task force calls students in "by confidential invitation" and talks to them so that the matter is "resolved" before the case is referred to the university's disciplinary council. He said nothing about who sits on the task force, how many students have been summoned so far, or what came of the summonses. The president of the University of Tehran also said the university will not go easy on smoking on campus.

Compulsory hijab at universities: from summonses to bans on entry

The official announcement of a hijab task force at Iran's largest university comes as pressure on female students has also intensified at several other universities in recent weeks. DIAR previously reported that Alzahra University barred more students from entering and the security office of Allameh Tabataba'i University stepped up pressure over compulsory hijab.

This new mechanism amounts to a permanent structure for monitoring students' dress: a summons described as "confidential" in practice puts the student under pressure from a body that, if the "violation" continues, hands her over to the disciplinary committee, without legal protection or any possibility of public objection.

At the same time, last week the Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic called in a statement for firm enforcement of the compulsory hijab law. In recent days the University of Tehran also cut ties with Farzad Kalbali, a lecturer in political sociology, over his posts on social media.

Women's civil resistance after the uprising

Since the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising and then the January uprising, large numbers of female students and girls appear on university grounds and in the streets without compulsory hijab. The creation of special task forces, summonses and disciplinary case-building shows that, having failed to impose the hijab with street forces, the Islamic Republic has this time shifted the pressure inside educational institutions.

With its "hijab task force", the University of Tehran has turned the monitoring of students' dress into a permanent structure of confidential summonses.