Tehran Bookstore Closed Over Alleged Hijab Violations

Iranian authorities have closed down a popular bookstore in Tehran for what they deemed as noncompliance with the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab rules.

Saless Publication announced on its Instagram account on January 30 that it was cited for infractions by the Public Places Authority, which led to the closure of its bookstore.

Over the past months, hundreds of bookstores, cafés, restaurants, pharmacies and other businesses have been shut by the authorities due to the failure of owners or managers to enforce compulsory hijab rules.

Anger over the suppression of human rights, and women's rights in particular, has boiled over since September 2022, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in police custody. She had been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

While the nationwide protests sparked by Amini’s death waned in early 2023 amid a bloody crackdown on dissent, many Iranian women continue to refuse to wear a head covering in public and have been detained, fined and jailed for that reason.