Mohammad Hossein Saket, Former Supreme Court Judge and Justice: “You Cannot Defend Justice with an Axe”/ Pedram Tahsini

Mohammad Hossein Saket is a retired judge, former justice of the Supreme Court of Iran, university professor, and practicing attorney. He has authored works in the fields of law and Islamic studies, including books and articles on legal procedures in Islamic law, a historical perspective on the philosophy of law, legal theory, legal advocacy, and […]...

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In Praise of Peace: A Journalist’s Account from a Bombarded Tehran/ Hossein Yazdi

War—this word has become entangled with our lives in the Middle East, as though the region has no other identity without it. At the time of my birth, the 1979 Revolution had just happened, and by the time I entered elementary school, I was fully experiencing war—red sirens and teachers who would take us under […]...

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Iman Soleymani: Whether the Dowry Is a Thousand Coins or Fourteen, It Won’t Solve Family Problems/ Ali Kalaei

Dowry has always been a contentious issue in Iran, both legally and socially. In recent years, with the worsening economic situation, it has become even more important and complex. Rooted in religious and historical traditions, dowry has now—amid social changes and economic crises in Iran—turned into a legal battleground and sometimes a source of tension […]...

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Mahr: A Guarantee of Women’s Rights or a Tool for Reproducing Gender Inequality?/ Alireza Goodarzi

Mahr can be understood within the broader context of tradition: it has come down to us from a distant past and represents a period that may not necessarily align with the needs of our present. I put forth this claim on the basis of questions that have been persistently asked within our society for many […]...

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“My Mehr Is Yours, My Life Is Free”: From Slogan to Official Policy/ Mousa Barzin

In recent years, mahrieh (marital dowry) has become a topic of contention and dispute both in Iranian society and within the domains of policymaking and legislation. The culturally widespread trend of setting exorbitant mahrieh amounts has led lawmakers and the Iranian judiciary to pursue policies aimed at reducing legal and judicial support for mahrieh. However, […]...

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Legal Analysis of the New Proposal to Cap Dowry at Fourteen Gold Coins/ Sina Yousefi

In recent years, the issue of dowry-related imprisonment has become one of the significant challenges facing Iran’s legal and judicial system. On one hand, it concerns the rights and human dignity of men indebted for dowries; on the other hand, within the framework of Iran’s family law, dowry has become the only effective tool for […]...

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Why Superficial Reforms to the Dowry Law Are Ineffective/ Mohammad Hadi Jafarpour

Contrary to the belief that the challenges of dowry can be resolved merely by amending the Law on Financial Convictions, one of the most important and thought-provoking points in reforming family law is the necessity to consider religious matters and the codified rules outlined in the Book of Marriage. Despite the pressing need to adapt […]...

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From Profiteers to Victims of Dowry: Law, Poverty, Culture, and Media/ Mahtab Alinezhad

What is a dowry? In Islamic culture and jurisprudence, a dowry is property that the husband commits to the wife at the time of concluding a marriage contract, which he must pay her upon her demand. This property can be cash, coins, gold, real estate, or even non-material items like Quranic education or arranging a […]...

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From Gold Coins to Real Estate Titles: Dowry as a Mirror of Economic Transformations and Class Divides in Iran/ Morteza Hamounian

One person’s dowry is only “14 coins,” and another’s is “over one thousand and three hundred coins” (which corresponds to the bride’s age). The amount of this dowry also fluctuates each time. Dowry is supposed to be a sadaq and a symbol of affection and love, but like the price of housing and cars, it […]...

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Women, Dowry, and the Law: A Cycle of Injustice/ Elahe Amani

The proposed bill in Iran’s parliament in the year 1404 (2025) for reforming the dowry law has sparked widespread debate among legal experts and women’s rights activists. While the parliament’s goal is to reduce legal cases and the number of dowry-related prisoners, many feminists and advocates of women’s rights believe that such proposals do not […]...

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Censorship as a Preserver of the Old Order: From the Constitutional Revolution to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance/ Mehrdad Naghibi

The policy of censorship and pre-publication review, as the primary deterrent to the advancement of culture, has continued to persist for years by relying on a wide range of available tools, aiding opponents of freedom of expression. Today, the issue of censorship is no longer confined to book publishing and the press; instead, all cultural, […]...

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Taqi Azadarmaki: Relocating the capital is a wrong and self-serving project/ Ali Kalaei

For decades, the issue of transferring the capital in Iran has been raised and each time this discussion ends without any clear results, it is pushed to the sidelines. Tehran, as the center of political, economic, cultural, and other activities in the country, faces numerous problems such as overpopulation, air pollution, and concentration of major […]...

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