Two hijab enforcement agents were attacked this weekend amid a nationwide defiance of mandatory hijab as ordinary people fight back against deepening oppression.

According to the IRNA state news agency, a "morality police officer" was hospitalized after an attack on Friday evening in Hamedan, allegedly suffering "severe injuries".

On Saturday, in Esfahan Province, another hijab enforcement agent was "assaulted" in Naghsh-e Jahan Square. Several businesses were shut down after the incident which went viral on social media.

Widespread public defiance of hijab underway since 2022 was sparked by the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, who suffered severe head injuries after her arrest for 'improper' wearing of the mandatory hijab. Since then, hundreds of thousands of women have discarded their hijab in defiance as women demand the right to choose their own clothing.

Verbal and physical altercations have since been on the rise as the state continues to expand the morality police patrols amid the mass rebellion, citizens fighting back against the Islamic Republic's theocratic rulings.

Women have been barred from public spaces, education and work places for refusing to wear the Islamic dress code, businesses closed and as a result, state surveillance, both overt and covert, has become ever more repressive.