Moment Iranian morality police force woman to cover her bare legs with trousers as new hijab crackdown sees dozens of cafes and gyms sealed off

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 14:55, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 14:56, 17 August 2026 Iran's morality police have forced a woman to cover her bare legs with trousers as the regime launches a fresh crackdown on what it says are violations of Islamic norms.  Footage taken from the Iranian city of Amol, in northern Iran, showed a female officer from the notorious force confronting a young woman sitting at a bus stop.  The officer scolds her for not covering her legs up: 'What you’re doing is disgraceful. Even in Turkey, you couldn’t go out dressed like this. Stand up, please. Get up and leave.' The young woman initially apologises, but when the officer continues to shout at her, she retaliates and says: 'It’s none of your business. Leave me alone and get lost.' In the background, a police siren can be heard. The video then cuts to a clip of two male officers cornering the young woman, forcing her to put on a pair of trousers.  But the female morality officer delivers one final order: 'Put on your headscarf.'  In Iran, women have needed to cover their necks and heads following the Iranian revolution in 1979.  Modest clothing is enforced by the specially created morality police, formally known as Gasht-e Ershad, which translates as 'Guidance Patrol'. Footage taken from the Iranian city of Amol, in northern Iran, showed a female officer from the notorious force confronting a young woman sitting at a bus stop The woman is then forced to put on a pair of trousers The video is the latest sign of the Iranian regime's ever-tightening grip on the country.  Iran International reported that authorities have sealed up at least 42 cafes, gyms, restaurants and shops over the last three weeks over compulsory hijab rules and what officials describe as violations of Islamic norms.  The closures were reported in at least 17 cities, including Tehran, Mashhad, Yazd, Kerman, Ardabil and Birjand.  Businesses closed down included women's gyms, shops, cultural centres, cafes and restaurants.  In the city of Qaen, an optician was forced to shut down last week as authorities accused customers and staff of failing to comply with hijab rules.  In Borujerd, two sports clubs were sealed by judicial order on August 4. And in Yazd, authorities sealed four women's sports clubs.   Over the weekend, a friend of an Iranian woman told the Daily Mail that she was put in a psychiatric ward and is now being forced to take monthly injections of a medication used to treat schizophrenia after she stripped down to her underwear to protest her treatment at the hands of Iran's morality police.   In November 2024, Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei's hijab momentarily slipped from her head as she walked up the steps of her university. She was confronted by a pair of male police officers  Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei stripped down to her underwear in protest over her 'treatment' by morality police after her hijab 'slipped' from her head Unaware, and distracted by her phone, she carried on walking until she was hounded by morality police. Ms Daryaei was shouted at and grabbed by men. Their aggressive pulling started to rip off her clothes. She was then pulled towards a room used to punish female students. In a moment of desperation, Ms Daryaei decided to try and regain control by shocking her aggressors – so the mother-of-two stripped off and walked up and down the university courtyard in her underwear.  Human rights group Amnesty International said Ms Daryaei removed her clothes 'in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials' and called for her 'immediate and unconditional release'. As condemnation against her treatment increased, so did the Iranian regime's determination to label Ms Daryaei's 'act of defiance' as a sign of her being 'mentally unwell'. Ms Daryaei is now forced to take monthly injections of flupentixol, a medication used to treat schizophrenia, which are administered by doctors to ensure she is taking it.