President Rouhani released a study showing how drastically public attitude towards mandatory Islamic dress has changed in the past decade. Nearly half of Iranians believe that wearing a hijab should be a private choice.
Image: picture alliance/abaca
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The government of Iran published a three-year old study on Sunday night illustrating growing public distaste for the obligatory hijab just days after police confirmed that dozens of women had been arrested as protests against mandatory Islamic head covering gained momentum.
The study compares data from 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2014 — and illustrates the staggering decline in support for the legal restrictions on women's clothing, one of the major changes pushed during the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
According to the Center for Strategic Studies, which operates as part of the Iranian president's office, in 2006, 34 percent of Iranians believed that the government should not be allowed to dictate what women wear.
But by 2014 that number had jumped to 49 percent.
"And I'm sure if you ran the survey again today, that number would be even higher," one Iranian woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told DW.
Burqa, hijab or niqab? What is she wearing?
The Quran calls for women to dress "modestly," though interpretations as to what that means vary. Here is an overview of the most common types of clothing worn by Muslim women.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
Hijab
Most Islamic scholars agree that the hijab, which covers the head and neck, and comes in any number of shapes and colors, must be worn by Muslim women. American teen Hannah Schraim is seen wearing one here while playing with her brother.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Martin
Chador
The chador, which is usually black, is a body-length outer garmet often worn in Iran and among modern-minded women in the Gulf States, as here in Saudi Arabia. It is not fastened with clasps or buttons and therefore has to be held closed by the wearer.
Image: picture alliance/JOKER/K. Eglau
Niqab
A niqab is a veil and scarf that covers the entire face yet leaves the eyes free. It covers a woman's hair, as it falls to the middle of her back and some are also half-length in the front so as to cover her chest. Here it is being worn by women attending a rally by Salafi radicals in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Roessler
Abaya
An abaya is a loose-fitting, full-length garment designed to cover the body. It may come in many different styles, as seen here at an Arab fashion show, and is often worn in combination with hijab or niqab.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Haider
Burqa
The burqa is the most extensive of all Muslim garments, covering the entire body from head to toe. It traditionally has a woven mesh area around the eyes, severely restricting the wearer's vision. Here they are seen casting their ballots in Pakistani parliamentary elections.
Image: AP
No veil
Queen Rania of Jordan says that Islam does not coerce women to wear any head coverings and that it is more important to judge a woman by her ethics and values, rather than what she wears. She is seen here meeting refugees in Greece.
Image: Reuters/A. Konstantinidis
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Another interesting data point shows the drop in support for even more restrictive religious clothing. In 2006, 54 percent of those questioned thought that women should wear a chador, a garment that wraps around the entire body, revealing only the face.
By 2014, however, that number had dropped to 35 percent.
The survey also asked whether respondents thought the government should proceed with charges against women who were caught without a hijab in public. In 2006, about half of the population thought they should. But three years ago that number had fallen to just 39 percent.
Leaked video shows Iran's Khamenei didn't want the job
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Rouhani's sleight-of-hand
While it may seem strange to some that the office of President Hassan Rouhani would publish these numbers as Iran's religious police step up their crackdown on anti-hijab protests, it is actually the second time recently that Rouhani has used such a tactic as a slick political gambit.
In December, Rouhani published the government's budget in full, claiming it was in the name of transparency. The president ran as a reformer, and hoped that anger at his lack of real legislative change would be tempered by revelations about how much funding the government is obligated to pay religious institutions and some of their employees.
The move backfired and Iran erupted into protests against the political establishment as a whole, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the aftermath of the country's contested 2009 presidential election.
Frustrated Iranians take to the streets in anti-government protests
The mass protests in Iran were initially about economic woes and foreign policy. Now, demonstrators are questioning the country's system of government. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is blaming the "enemies of Iran."
Image: Reuters
Disillusionment on the rise
High unemployment, high inflation and a deepening divide between poor and wealthy Iranians: The economic crisis in Iran is a major cause of frustration for many people. The easing of international sanctions following the 2015 nuclear deal has not improved people's living conditions as expected.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Public uprising
The majority of protesters so far are poor Iranians. People from major cities across the country converged on the capital, Tehran, to vent their anger when demonstrations began on December 28. They have since expanded to cities and towns in almost every province.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/STR
Political demands
It is not clear who is spearheading the protests, or if anyone is leading them at all. The demands have, however, become more political: stop backing the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, no intervention in Syria and Iraq. The protesters are urging the government to focus on domestic problems. There have also been calls for Ayatollah Khamenei to step down.
Image: twitter_arteshbood
'Enemies of Iran'
Five days after the demonstrators first took to the streets, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, reacted to the protesters' demands, accusing "enemies of Iran" of using "different tools including cash, weapons, politics and [the] intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic."
Image: picture-alliance/Anadolu Agency/Salampix
Harsh response
Authorities report that 450 people were arrested in connection with the protests. Twenty-one people are believed to have died in violent clashes, among them 16 demonstrators. They are the largest protests Iran has seen since the disputed 2009 presidential election.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
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Anger grew over the stagnant economy and demonstrations cropped up across the country, resulting in at least 21 deaths as protestors clashed with police.
While Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the protests on foreign agitators, Rouhani instead insisted that the government listen to what the demonstrators had to say.
Tehran's chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri has similarly blamed the anti-hijab protests on influence from enemy agents.
In addition to the open demonstrations, women have been sharing pictures of themselves in public without their heads covered on the website My Stealthy Freedom.
