Tehran cafe shut down over women bikers’ event
A café in northern Tehran was sealed off late Thursday after announcing an event for female motorcyclists scheduled the next day.
A café in northern Tehran was sealed off late Thursday after announcing an event for female motorcyclists scheduled the next day.
The café’s Instagram page had advertised a Friday gathering with a DJ and cash prizes for participants. But it later posted an image of a police closure notice and urged followers not to attend.
Despite extensive legal restrictions, more women have taken up motorcycles in Iranian cities in recent years, particularly since the protests over Mahsa Amini’s death in morality police custody. The trend has spread beyond Tehran to places such as Yazd and other provinces, according to officials.
Under current law, women are barred from obtaining motorcycle licenses. The traffic code amendment passed in 2010 specifies men only, leaving women who ride in a legal vacuum. Driving without a license is an offense, yet enforcement against women riders has been uneven, with police issuing warnings or seizing bikes at their discretion.
Kazem Delkhosh, deputy in the parliamentary affairs office of President Masoud Pezeshkian, said in August the government is considering changes. “We are preparing legislation for women who want to ride and the women’s affairs office is also working on a bill,” Delkhosh told the state-run Iran newspaper.
Lack of licensing carries wider consequences, he added. “If a female rider is injured or causes damage, there is no license to hold her accountable or for insurance to cover losses,” Delkhosh said.
Senior police officials maintain the current ban is binding. “According to existing law, licenses for female motorcyclists cannot be issued,” the deputy head of the traffic police said last month.
Religious ban
Clerics often argue that women riding motorcycles (or bicycles) in public settings may attract male attention, threaten societal morality, and undermine women’s chastity—even if they're fully covered.
Others, however, argue the restrictions are inconsistent. “If a woman can drive a bus or truck and earn people’s trust, why not a motorcycle?” sociologist Maryam Yousefi asked in an interview with Iran newspaper.
Rights groups have repeatedly called for change. On International Women’s Day this year, 30 organizations demanded an end to gender-based discrimination.
The sealing of the café has once more underscored the clash between social realities and restrictions, leaving women riders caught between growing public visibility and an unresolved legal void.
Supporters hailed the plan to feature renowned vocalist Homayoun Shajarian at Azadi (Freedom) Square as a rare chance for collective joy, while critics denounced it as a state ploy to deflect from the looming anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
Some urged Iranians to seize the event as a protest, while hardliners at home warned it would unleash unrest.
Shajarian, son of the late maestro Mohammad Reza Shajarian, announced on Instagram that after years of denials by the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, he had finally been granted permission to hold a free public concert.
He described it as the fulfillment of an impossible dream.
“This concert is neither for anyone nor at anyone’s request. I stood with the people during the war with Israel, and now I just want to lift their spirits,” he said.
Sudden storm
Critics were quick to react.
“The Homayoun Shajarian 'concert' is not a concert—it’s a government project … Those who take part in it (under any pretext) are without question agents of the regime and its foot soldiers,” one posted on X.
Ultra-hardliners claimed the state lacked the security capacity to manage such a gathering.
Supporters countered that the city had organized vast religious rallies like the “10-Kilometer Ghadir Feast” even during the turmoil following the recent 12-day war with Israel.
Sadegh Koushki, a politician close to the ultra-hardline Paydari Front, condemned the idea, calling it a show of numbers meant to “extort revolutionary people and the Leader.”
Filmmaker Abolghasem Talebi warned the event would become “a display of nudity” and a launchpad for protests.
“A free concert in Freedom Square means lawlessness,” he said. “First Shajarian, then others. Gradually, we’ll face a coup of public squares through nudity and unveiled women—with government permission.”
Cancellation
By Wednesday, Shajarian admitted his worst fear had come true: the concert would not take place, and his “impossible dream” would remain out of reach.
Tehran’s ultra-hardline mayor, Alireza Zakani, said security authorities had rejected the plan because of “time constraints” and lack of preparation, proposing to move it to the 12,000-seat Azadi Stadium.
Municipality officials claimed they were only informed days earlier, but the government countered that preparations had long been under discussion.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the administration had supported the event from the start, asserting that "millions" attending would have strengthened national unity.
Administration public relations chief Ali Ahmadnia said Freedom Square remained the priority but the 100,000-seat Azadi Stadium could serve as a fallback.
Shajarian has reportedly ignored officials’ calls, and many supporters on social media say they will not attend if the concert is not held at Freedom Square.
‘Problem lies elsewhere’
The cancellation itself became a new battlefield, as critics highlighted what it revealed about the establishment’s insecurity.
Many believe the decision stemmed from fear that massive crowds would dwarf the regime’s own rallies in Freedom Square, which often struggle to fill even with free transport, food, and mandatory attendance.
Sociologist Mohammad Fazeli ridiculed the municipality’s claim of being unprepared: “Fine, give them two weeks! If they’re not lying, they can prepare. Otherwise, their problem lies elsewhere.”
Veteran reformist Abbas Abdi, writing in Ham Mihan, argued that those in power fear the people more than foreign invasion. “Domestic warmongers and hardline opposition [abroad] alike oppose peaceful, joyful gatherings,” he wrote.
“From the start, I doubted authorities would accept such a security risk,” political analyst Omid Memarian told Iran International.
“The cancellation proves the regime lacks self-confidence and reveals the depth of the rift between people and the state.”
