“This is like pouring fuel on fire. People are already angry because of high inflation and rising prices. They are very frustrated,” said a former government official. “Coercion has never worked.” Waves of the hijab protests have hit the clerical establishment in the past years. In 2014, rights activist Masih Alinejad started a Facebook campaign “My Stealthy Freedom”, where she shared pictures of unveiled Iranian women sent to her. It was followed by a campaign in 2017 for women to wear white headscarves on Wednesdays and the hijab protests in 2018 when women took to the streets holding their veils aloft. Dozens of women have been jailed in Iran for their activism against forced veiling, according to rights groups.
