Iran19 September, 20262 min read
Iranian Authorities Prosecute TehranRun Organizers After Women Run Without Hijab
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Iranian authorities filed a criminal complaint against Tehran marathon organizers over unveiled runners. Hundreds of women ran Tehran 10K unveiled, highlighting defiance of mandatory hijab law.
5 outlets told this the same way.
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Tehran race and legal case
Iranian authorities filed a criminal complaint against the organizers of a run after some women participated without the hijab mandated in Iran. The Tehran prosecutor’s office filed the complaint and opened a judicial proceeding, and the Iranian judiciary on its website Misan Online said "legal and religious provisions were not observed." The TehranRun over ten kilometers took place on Friday, and the TehranRun was held at Velayat Park with women and men competing in separate divisions.
The state news agency Irna quoted a Ministry of Interior spokesman saying, "It must be ensured that such events do not coincide with other events such as the Dschanfada parade," and the Tehran 10-kilometre marathon’s women’s race started at 5:30 AM followed by the men’s at 7:00 AM. The Tehran 10-kilometre marathon occurred the same day as a military parade held as part of a mobilization campaign under the motto ‘Dschanfada’ (sacrifice for the homeland).
Defiance, parade, and amplification
Al Jazeera said unveiled runners competed in Tehran in one of the largest displays of defiance since the 2022 ‘women, life, freedom’ protests, and the report described women running without hijab. Al Jazeera also described the scene as a split between veiled women marching in the capital to support the government and war effort, and the report framed the marathon as defiance of law. Euronews said Tehran saw two different scenes unfold at the same time on Friday, with unveiled women racing a marathon without a headscarf while state forces paraded machine guns nearby.
Euronews reported that the state-organised rally brought together 300,000 supporters of the Islamic Republic, and the report said the "Jan-Fada" (Self-Sacrificers) marched from Imam Hossein Square toward central Tehran. Iran International said videos showing women running without headscarves at a road race in Tehran went viral on Friday, and the report said videos of the unveiled runners were shared by some state-affiliated accounts on X.
What comes next under hijab law
DIE WELT said Iranian authorities had detained two organizers of a marathon on Kish Island after women there also participated in the competition without a hijab. Euronews said the Tehran Prosecutor's Office announced the opening of a judicial case against the organisers of the Tehran Marathon over what it described as a "failure to observe legal and religious standards," and HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency) reported the announcement. The Times of India said Parisa Arab, Iran's national record holder in the women's 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and half marathon, won Friday's race, and Arab later shared a video showing scenes from the event and her crossing the finish line.
The Times of India also said the organisers held separate races for men and women, with the women's event covering two laps of the 10-kilometre course. Euronews said under Iranian law, women are required to wear the hijab in public, and the report described the juxtaposition of unveiled marathon participation with a state military display as a continuing contradiction in Tehran’s public life.