A former senior Iranian traffic police official said there is no legal ban on issuing motorcycle licenses to women, but a regulatory gap has left them unable to ride legally, pointing to debate in parliament where some lawmakers have raised concerns over hijab compliance.
Colonel Einollah Jahani, the former deputy head of Iran’s traffic police, told ISNA news agency on Wednesday that Article 20 of the country’s traffic law currently tasks the police with issuing motorcycle licenses for men but is silent on women.
“From a legal perspective, this article only clarifies the police’s duty toward men and does not prohibit issuing licenses to women,” he said. “The silence of the law has created a gap that must be resolved by parliament.”
The government has submitted a bill to parliament to address the issue, state media has reported, but Jahani said that some lawmakers remain uneasy over how women would observe Islamic dress codes while riding.
He argued the concern was misplaced: “Both men and women must wear helmets, and helmets provide the necessary coverage to meet hijab requirements. This is a safety obligation that also addresses religious concerns.”
Iran’s traffic police chief, Brigadier General Teymour Hosseini, said earlier this week that any licensing of women would require formal changes to bylaws and law, and that the force was “awaiting an official notification on women’s motorcycling so we can proceed.”
Women have been legally allowed to own and register motorcycles in their name, but licensing has been withheld, leaving many to ride without permits in a legal gray zone.
Jahani said this inconsistency should be corrected: “There is no prohibition for women to own motorcycles under the constitution. They can hold official registration papers in their own name, so logically they should also be able to obtain licenses.”
He added that women have increasingly demanded the right to ride motorcycles, citing economic pressures, traffic congestion and the need for affordable transportation.
“In the past there was no demand, but today motorcycling has become a social demand,” he said, noting that research shows women generally drive more cautiously than men.
The debate comes against the backdrop of wider calls for women’s rights in Iran since the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, which ignited nationwide protests.
Conservative clerics have resisted moves to permit public motorcycling by women, arguing it could breach social norms, but reformist officials say formal training courses can provide a workable compromise.
Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, wrote, “The message of the Zionist entity’s recent crime in Qatar is clear: O countries of the region! Prepare yourselves for my coming domination.”
His comments came a day after Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas office in Doha, in what Israel called an operation against the group’s senior leadership. Qatar condemned the attack as “criminal and cowardly,” while Iran labeled it an “extremely dangerous” violation of sovereignty and international law.
President Masoud Pezeshkian also condemned the strike as an “illegal, inhumane and anti-peace action,” telling Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani by phone that Tehran stood in solidarity with its Persian Gulf neighbor. “Attacking an independent country is a clear violation of national sovereignty and the UN Charter,” he said.
The strike in Doha, coordinated with Washington according to Israeli media, killed members of Hamas’s political bureau, though both Qatar and Hamas gave no details on casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later insisted the raid was “a wholly independent Israeli operation.”
Hamas, which has based its political leadership in Qatar for years, said its ceasefire delegation had survived the attack and accused the United States of enabling Israel’s actions while presenting itself as mediator.
The incident comes as Iran recalibrates its foreign policy after a June war with Israel and the United States devastated its military and nuclear infrastructure.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has in recent weeks sought Qatari mediation with the West, and Larijani is seen as a potential lead negotiator in renewed nuclear talks as UN sanctions loom.
Iranian media and analysts have floated his possible return to leading nuclear negotiations, amid suggestions the Supreme National Security Council could regain control of the dossier as Tehran faces looming UN sanctions under the European-triggered “snapback” mechanism.
The strike on Qatar marks a dangerous new front in a region still unsettled by June’s 12-day war, when Israeli and US forces targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and military infrastructure.
