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A courageous Iranian woman snatched off a mullah’s turban to use as a headscarf after he allegedly scolded her for what she was wearing.
Footage circulating on social media shows the altercation at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.
The unnamed woman is shown shouting at the Muslim cleric, asking him, ‘So you have honour now?’
She then storms off with his turban, draping it over herself as a headscarf.
It is alleged that the cleric had criticised her for not wearing the mandatory head covering, resulting in the altercation.
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad posted the undated video on X, saying: ‘A brave woman at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport confronted a cleric harassing her for not wearing a hijab.
The video was first published on January 6
‘In a bold act of defiance, she removed his turban and wore it like a scarf, turning oppression into resistance.
‘For years, clerics have claimed that their turbans and robes are sacred and untouchable, but this woman’s act of protest shattered that myth.’
Alinejad also stressed that Iranian women are ‘exhausted and enraged’ by the regime’s gender apartheid.
A news agency linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded on Monday by denying reports that the incident was related to the mandatory hijab laws.
Tasnim News Agency cited an unnamed ‘informed source’ who claimed that the woman had ‘severe psychological issues,’ adding that she had attacked multiple people at the airport without provocation.
A brave woman at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport confronted a cleric harassing her for not wearing a hijab. In a bold act of defiance, she removed his turban and wore it like a scarf, turning oppression into resistance.
For years, clerics have claimed their turbans and robes are… pic.twitter.com/Mdj1c0b3Vo
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 6, 2025
Iran’s autocratic regime has long used mental illnesses as a tool to repress and discredit its critics, particularly women.
Authorities branded several women who violated the country’s hijab law on camera as psychologically unstable, after videos of their ‘crimes’ were shared online.
The use of such tactic has ramped up in the aftermath of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests.
In November, a young woman who undressed herself outside her university in an apparent protest against harassment was branded as mentally ill and was forcibly transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
It was just days later that the regime announced that it is opening a mental health clinic for women who refuse to wear a hijab.
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of Oslo-based Iran Human Rights, said at the time: ‘Iranian authorities systematically use involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation as a tool to suppress dissent, branding protesters as mentally unstable to undermine their credibility.
‘Authorities isolate the individual, intensify security pressures, and tightly control the narrative – blocking journalists and civil society members from independently investigating or reporting on the case.’
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