In recent weeks, the police have closed dozens of cafes, often citing laws that stipulate women must veil in public. Experts say the closures are part of an effort to control public space.
Through war, political unrest and rampant inflation that has put the dreams of many beyond reach, Iran’s youth have held on to one luxury that helps them feel normal in abnormal times: frequenting coffee shops with friends.
Across the country, they pack into cafes and spill out onto the sidewalk — chatting, smoking cigarettes, flirting and enjoying one of the few affordable diversions still available to them. These mixed-gender gatherings, where women go unveiled and some customers even discreetly drink alcohol, both illegal acts in Iran, have become a conspicuous counterculture, visible to any passerby.
It has not escaped the attention of the authorities, either. In recent weeks, the police have been shutting down dozens of cafes, usually citing a failure to abide by Iran’s mandatory hijab law.
The crackdown has stretched to cities across the country, taking in restaurants and boutiques as well, according to statements from officials, though some businesses have since reopened.
It is a social scene, experts say, that challenges the government’s efforts to dominate Iran’s public spaces. Since nationwide protests in January that began over the spiraling economy and were crushed by lethal force, the government has sought to tightly control any public gatherings.
And as the United States’ war with Iran, aimed in part at unseating the Islamic republic, drags on without resolution, the regime has held pro-government nighttime rallies that serve both to bolster a narrative of popular public support and dissuade dissidents from protesting.
