On Friday December 5, 2025, what appeared at first glance to be a harmless sporting event — a marathon held on the resort island of Kish Island, in the Persian Gulf — ignited a political and social firestorm across the Islamic Republic. Over 5,000 runners reportedly took part.
But images that emerged from the race showed a number of female participants running without wearing the mandatory headscarf (hijab). In a country where Islamic dress codes for women have been enshrined in law for decades, those images triggered an immediate crackdown. By Saturday, the judicial authorities announced that they had arrested two of the main organisers of the marathon.
This is more than just a sports story: it illustrates — with acute clarity — the current fault lines in Iranian society between those pushing for more personal freedoms, and hard-line forces determined to enforce longstanding religious and moral codes. It raises serious questions about gender, law, civil society, and the tensions between cultural transformation and political power.
