Iran formally allows women to drive motorcycles: What to know

Iran’s government signed a resolution on Tuesday that allows women to legally drive motorcycles after obtaining a license, at a time when many restrictions on women’s rights remain in place. 

The resolution tasks the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran with issuing motorcycle licenses to women following mandatory training and an examination. The exam will be organized under the direct supervision of traffic police and by female officers. In cases of personnel shortages, male officers may be assigned, provided that religious considerations are observed, according to a decree reported by several Iranian news outlets.

Under the new rules, all female applicants must also complete practical training at licensed schools under the supervision of female instructors before obtaining a license. Of note, Iran’s Traffic Law also requires men to complete training to obtain a motorcycle license.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref signed the resolution, which the cabinet finalized last week, according to state-linked ILNA news agency.

Restrictions on women’s rights

Many women in Iran have already ridden motorcycles for years despite some ambiguity surrounding the country’s Traffic Law. While the law does not explicitly prohibit women from driving two-wheelers, a subsection of Article 20 states that “issuing motorcycle driving licenses for men is the responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Police Force.”

In 2019, a branch of the Administrative Court of Justice in Isfahan, in central Iran, issued a ruling calling on the local Police Traffic Department to issue motorcycle driving licenses to “qualified women.” This came after a woman filed a complaint before the court when she was denied a motorbike license based on Article 20 of the law.

Religious authorities have also frowned upon women motorcyclists, claiming that riding a motorcycle draws the attention of men and prevents women from properly wearing their hijab.

Women in Iran have faced wide-ranging restrictions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, including a ban on riding motorcycles, bicycles and even horses. Many sports, like swimming, gymnastics and boxing, were also prohibited.

Other regulations affecting women’s rights have also been issued. After coming to power in the wake of the revolution, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini decreed that all Iranian women must cover their heads and necks.

In September 2022, massive nationwide protests erupted in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf too loosely, in violation of the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Amini died in a hospital in Tehran after falling into a coma while in detention. While authorities claim she suffered a heart attack, eyewitnesses say Amini was beaten on her head with a baton.

Elsewhere in the region, notable women’s rights reforms have emerged, most strikingly in conservative Saudi Arabia. In 2018, the kingdom lifted its decades-long ban on women driving — extending to vehicles and motorcycles — and hosted its first gender-mixed concert in April of that year.

In 2019, King Salman bin Abdulaziz signed a law eliminating the need for women to obtain male guardian permission to travel or secure passports. These advances form part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 agenda to foster gender equality, enact social reforms and digitally transform Saudi society while diversifying its oil-dependent economy.

In other Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, women face no legal barriers to riding two-wheelers, though cultural and religious norms may discourage it.

Timing of motorcycle resolution

Some social media users have questioned the timing of Tuesday’s resolution authorizing women to drive motorbikes, accusing Iranian authorities of attempting to divert the public’s attention from more urgent economic and social problems.

A wave of protests erupted in Iran on Dec. 28, 2025, and continued into early January, initially triggered by a sharp plunge in the national currency that sent the Iranian riyal to a record low of around 1.4 million per dollar. The protest movement quickly expanded to include calls for the end of the Islamic regime. Iranian authorities launched a violent crackdown, killing more than 6,872 people, according to the US-based HRANA rights group.

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of fueling the unrest and arrested over 50,553 people over their participation in the riots. The Iranian government claims that 3,117 people were killed during the protests.