Senior Iran official first to publicly criticise regime’s hijab crackdown
A senior Iranian official has questioned excessive state enforcement of the country’s compulsory hijab laws – following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody.
Ali Larijani, 65, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and a former parliamentary speaker, warned in an interview with Iranian daily Ettela’at that a “rigid response” to the widespread protests that have followed her death “is not the cure”.
The 22-year-old died while in the custody of Iran‘s morality police last month after being detained for alleged violations of the country’s strict dress code.
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Why are Iranians protesting?
Mr Larijani is the first senior political figure to publicly call for a rethink on the government’s crackdown on women and girls who do not adhere to the Islamic dress code.
In an apparent break from the uncompromising line shown by the regime, he said in the interview: “The hijab has a cultural solution, it does not need decrees and referendums.
Ali Larijani has called for a hijab policing rethink . Pic: AP
“I appreciate the services of the police force and Basij [parliamentary militia], but this burden of encouraging the hijab should not be assigned to them.
“Do not doubt that when a cultural phenomenon becomes widespread, a rigid response to it is not the cure.
“The people and young people who come to the street are our own children. In a family, if a child commits a crime, then they try to guide him to the right path, the society needs more tolerance.”
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He noted that during the period of the last Shah’s rule before the 1979 Iranian revolution, wearing of the hijab was not encouraged by the state but many women wore it voluntarily.
Mr Larijani continued: “Islamic government means that people manage their own affairs. It is the same in terms of social justice. If the affairs are managed by the people, their talents will flourish.”
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Iranian teen ‘beaten to death’
He added: “The problem is that if in a society, young people do not implement one of the sharia rulings correctly from an intellectual and social point of view, this is not 100% wrong.”
Ms Amini, an Iranian Kurd, was arrested in Tehran on 13 September for wearing “inappropriate attire” and died three days later.
Iran’s government insists she was not mistreated, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating.
Her death has led young women to cut their hair and defiantly tear off and wave their headscarves, spearheading protests which have quickly spread nationwide – and to other cities across the globe, including London.
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Moment protesters hack Iranian state TV
The protests, which have called for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, have been met by a harsh government crackdown, including beatings, arrests and the killing of demonstrators.
Human rights groups say at least 201 people have been killed in Iran, along with hundreds injured and thousands arrested by security forces.
At least 20 members of the security forces have reportedly been killed.
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Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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