Iran Formally Allows Women To Get Motorcycle Licenses; Yes, In 2026

When a government “allows” women to ride a motorcycle, you know freedom was never the point. In most countries, riding a motorcycle is forgettable. It is a cheap commute and a practical decision made between bus schedules and petrol prices. No one debates it. No one legislates it. But in Iran, it was long treated like a moral threat.

On February 3, 2026, Iranian authorities formally announced that women can finally obtain motorcycle licences. The news was framed as progress and a sign of modernisation.

But it is none of those things. It is the state returning a basic right it quietly stole in the first place.

For years, traffic law never explicitly banned women from riding. Instead, police simply refused to issue licences. No paperwork meant no legal protection. Women could be fined, denied insurance, or blamed for accidents. 

Jamaran, a reformist newspaper, reported that the issuance of motorcycle licenses to women had been withheld for years due to "different interpretations."

Now the cabinet, under First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, says women can train, take exams, and receive driving licences. Officially, this is a “clarification.” In reality, it exposes how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime controls women. 

The long history of control

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the clerical establishment has steadily restricted women’s lives. Women cannot travel abroad without a male guardian’s permission. Divorce and inheritance laws favour men. Attendance at major men’s sports events is restricted. Mandatory hijab is enforced through surveillance, harassment, and arrest.

In Isfahan, often called the city of bicycles because of its cycling lanes and bike sharing system, women were banned from riding in public. The local prosecutor declared cycling “haram.”

Police were ordered to stop women, confiscate bikes, and threaten “punishment.” This followed a 2016 fatwa by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei explicitly banning women from cycling in public, claiming they attract male attention and corrupt society.

Female cyclists were detained during environmental campaigns such as Car Free Tuesdays. Some were released only after signing pledges promising never to ride again.

This is not reform. It is damage control

The timing is not accidental. Iran has been under intense pressure for years. The economy is battered, the currency has collapsed, and prices keep risin

Then came 2022. Mahsa Aminiwas arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules. She died in custody. Her death ignited nationwide anti-hijab protests and open rebellion. Women took over the streets. They burned headscarves, cut their hair and walked unveiled in public, daring the morality police to stop them.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime responded with bullets. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 551 protesters were killed by security forces. At least 49 were women. At least 68 were children. Most deaths were caused by firearms, including assault rifles.

Permission is not freedom

There is something deeply insulting about the language of “allowing.” Imagine now governments “allowing” children to stay up late or “allowing” pets to sit on sofas. Citizens are not supposed to be “allowed” basic movement.

Rights are not gifts handed down by clerics. When Khamenei’s regime frames mobility as permission, it reveals how it sees women. Anything granted by permission can be revoked just as easily.

Views expressed by the author are their own.