Iran’s Pro-Hijab Leader Faces Backlash After Daughter Wears Strapless Dress

A viral video showing the daughter of Ali Shamkhani, one of Iran’s top pro-hijab officials, wearing a strapless wedding dress has ignited widespread criticism, exposing perceived double standards within Iran’s hardline regime. Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has long championed strict Islamic dress codes and enforced harsh crackdowns on women who defy the hijab law.

The controversial video, originally from April 2024, depicts Shamkhani walking his daughter down the aisle at the luxury Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran. The bride, Fatemeh Shamkhani, is seen in a strapless gown with a nearly transparent veil, while her mother dons a revealing blue lace dress without a headscarf. Several female guests are also seen without hijabs. The lavish, Western-style wedding stands in stark contrast to Iran’s strict enforcement of modesty laws, where women risk arrest or violence for minor dress code violations.

Critics quickly condemned the video as hypocrisy. Activist Masih Alinejad highlighted the stark contrast, stating that while ordinary Iranian women are beaten, jailed, or even killed for showing their hair, Shamkhani’s family enjoys luxury and freedom. Social media users and journalists have called the display a “blatant example of double standards,” pointing out that regime officials appear exempt from the very rules they enforce on the public.

Even Iran’s domestic media reacted. Reformist newspaper Shargh ran a front-page photograph of Shamkhani with the headline, “Buried Under Scandal.” Meanwhile, Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, criticized the leaking of the video but noted that officials’ lifestyles must be defensible. Analysts argue that this scandal risks eroding public trust in Iran’s strict social policies and fuels anger over systemic inequality.

Shamkhani defended the event by accusing Israel of leaking the video, claiming it was a privacy violation and framing it as part of a broader campaign of interference. Former Iranian minister Ezzatollah Zarghami added that the ceremony was “female-only” and mostly attended by relatives, attempting to downplay the controversy.

The viral wedding footage has reignited debate over the Iranian regime’s enforcement of hijab laws, particularly in light of past nationwide protests where women publicly removed their headscarves in defiance. Observers say the scandal underscores ongoing tensions between official rhetoric and private conduct, revealing a stark gap between Iran’s leadership and the citizens they govern.

This incident highlights the emotional and political stakes in Iran, where public outrage over perceived hypocrisy continues to fuel conversations about gender, power, and justice in a society governed by strict Islamic rules.