Iran’s marathon hijab protest

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Kate Adie presents stories from Iran, Norway, France, Ireland and Switzerland.

A recent marathon race in Iran caused controversy after many of the 2000 women runners ignored the country's mandatory hijab law, and ran without a head covering. Years after deadly protests rocked the country, Faranak Amidi charts how women in Iran today are continuing to defy the religious authorities on a daily basis.

Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean is home to an array of wildlife, including Polar Bears. With their survival under threat, Beth Timmins considers their future - and past - while sailing off the bay of Skansbukta.

The French have a penchant for chestnuts, and demand in the country often vastly outstrips supply. And in the chestnut groves of the Cévennes, intensifying droughts are pushing the crop to the brink. Julius Purcell met chestnut farmers keeping a centuries-old culture alive, in the face of a warming planet.

Irish pubs may be one of the Emerald Isle’s most ubiquitous exports, but Irish whiskey has dipped in popularity over the last century in part due to politics - but also increased competition. Jordan Dunbar has been following the fate of his homeland’s much-loved liquor, ever since a surprise encounter in Japan.

And finally, Switzerland is famously neutral - but what that neutrality means is a subject that preoccupies the Swiss. Everyone knows that the Swiss banked Germany's money during the second world war, but a new exhibition shows how cooperative Switzerland also was to the allies. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, today in Svalbard, Norway, we're on the trail of polar bears, but keep your distance, and that's an order.
0:14.1	Irish whiskey once held preeminent status among connoisseurs. We chart its fall and rise as it makes a comeback in the bars of Mumbai.
0:24.0	Tis the season for roast chestnuts in the south of France.
0:28.0	We sample some of the tasty treats now under threat from climate change, and in Switzerland,
0:33.6	we explore the country's complicated claim to neutrality, in light of new information about espionage activities during World War II.
0:42.6	But first to Iran.
0:44.4	Earlier this month, a marathon race was held on Kish Island, a tourist resort in the south of the country.
0:50.9	Around 3,000 men took part and in a separate race, around 2,000 women, noticeable for the
0:57.3	decision of many runners to do away with the mandatory hijab. It was not an uncontroversial move.
1:04.2	Race organizers were arrested after the event, but it has been seen as a sign of the determination
1:10.6	among Iranian women to continue
1:12.9	resisting the morality codes enforced by the government. Farinakamidi spoke to some of the women who
1:19.7	took part in the race. I was scrolling through my Instagram when I came across a video. It showed
1:25.9	hundreds of women dressed in red t-shirts and athletic gear.
1:30.2	Their hair and ponytails are pushed back with headbands excitedly waiting.
1:35.3	Music playing loudly from speakers and then bang, the race starts.
1:40.3	Many women in Iran have been protesting the mandatory hijab for more than 40 years.
1:45.4	But things gained momentum in September of 2022, when a young woman called Mahza Amini
1:51.6	was arrested in Tehran by the so-called morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
1:58.8	She died a few days later while in custody. Protest swept across the
2:03.4	country, with women on the forefront burning their scarves and shouting, woman, life, freedom. For months,
2:11.2	the regime couldn't stop the protests, but eventually hundreds of protesters, including some children,
	...

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