Iran Latest setback adds to pressure on president

The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the latest in a string of foreign policy reversals for Iran including the weakening of its allies in Lebanon and Gaza, has coincided with growing domestic frustration over a rising number of executions, planned petrol price increases, and a proposed law that imposes heavy fines and the loss of access to public services on any woman not wearing the hijab.

- Patrick Wintour

The confluence of events is putting unprecedented pressure on Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to demonstrate what reforms he has introduced since being elected in June. He is viewed domestically as a consensual figure and faces a conservative parliament, but his supporters are impatient for changes that will lift the economy.

Human rights groups say the number of executions in Iran in 2024 has reached 798, with 144 carried out in November alone.

The announcement that the compulsory hijab bill has completed all its legal stages and will be implemented within a fortnight has prompted a storm of criticism, and hints of a last-minute delay.

One of the leaders of Iran's Green Movement, Zahra Rahnavard, warned that the new law - confirmed by the Guardian Council and the parliament - could become a flashpoint of resistance against the government. She said she had advised Iran's rulers "not to go to war with women".