Iran has established a mental health clinic in Tehran aimed at providing “treatment” for women who refuse to wear the hijab.
The facility, named the Clinic for Quitting Hijab Removal, represents the latest effort by the Islamic Republic to curb female dissent following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that erupted in 2022.
Mehri Talebi Darestani, who will oversee the clinic, described it as a center for the “scientific and psychological treatment” of hijab removal, specifically targeting teenagers, young adults, and women who are in search of a social and Islamic identity.
She emphasized that the clinic’s focus is on promoting “dignity, modesty, chastity, and hijab,” and claimed that participation in the program would be voluntary.
The clinic will operate under the supervision of Iran’s Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, a government body tasked with enforcing strict religious norms.
This Department, led by Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani—an appointee of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—has faced international sanctions from the UK and other nations for human rights violations and its harsh treatment of women who do not comply with Iran’s dress codes.
Recently, a female student from the Islamic Azad University in Tehran protested the hijab mandate by stripping to her underwear, after which she was labeled mentally ill and taken to a psychiatric facility.
The anti-hijab movement gained significant momentum following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022, who died while in the custody of the morality police after being arrested for improperly wearing her hijab.
