At least six women in Iran have been pictured protesting the obligatory Islamic headscarf by publicly taking off their hijabs and waving them on sticks.

Videos and photos shared widely on Facebook and Twitter showed the women purportedly following the lead of a woman who was arrested for a similar demonstration last month.

The 31-year-old protester known as the “Girl of Enghelab Street,” later identified as Vida Movahed, took off her headscarf on a street in the capital Tehran.

She was detained for several weeks before being released from custody.

Footage shows Vida Movahed silently waving her hijab on a stick in the capital Tehran (Armind Navabi/Twitter)

One of the women taking part in the protests was arrested after staging a protest on the same busy street in apparent solidarity.

Narges Hosseini was arrested within 10 minutes of removing her hijab along with two people filming her, Iran’s foremost human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, told The Guardian.

Ms Hosseini was pictured wearing a green wristband in an apparent reference to the Iranian Green Movement which rose in protest after the 2009 presidential election.

“Her message is clear, girls and women are fed up with forced [hijab],” Ms Sotoudeh wrote on Facebook. ”Let women decide themselves about their own body.”

Iran protests – in pictures Show all 11 1 /11 Iran protests – in pictures Iran protests – in pictures University students at an anti-government protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests – in pictures A university student at a protest inside Tehran University while a smoke grenade is thrown by anti-riot Iranian police, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests – in pictures University students at a protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests – in pictures University students run away from the police during an anti-government protest inside Tehran University, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests – in pictures An image grab taken from a handout video released by Iran's Mehr News agency reportedly shows a group of men pulling at a fence in a street in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AFP/Getty Iran protests – in pictures Demonstrators gather to protest in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AP Iran protests – in pictures Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, 30 December 2017 AFP/Getty Iran protests – in pictures Iranians chant slogans as they march in support of the government near the Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, December 30 2017 Iran protests – in pictures Iranian clerics take part during a state-organized rally against anti-government protests in the country, in the holy city of Qom, south west Iran, 3 January 2018 EPA Iran protests – in pictures In this photo provided by the Iranian Students' News Agency, a clergyman takes a picture of a pro-government demonstration in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran, 3 January 2018 ISNA via AP Iran protests – in pictures Pro-government demonstrators gather at the Massoumeh shrine in Iran's holy city of Qom, some 130 kilometres south of Tehran, 3 January 2018 AFP/Getty

While it is unclear where the images shared on social media were taken, women who fail to wear a headscarf in the Islamic Republic can be jailed for up to two months or fined 500,000 rials (£9.50).

The Muslim dress code, in place since the 1979 revolution, considers veiling obligatory for any female above 13 and says they should cover themselves from head to toe while disavowing any figure-hugging dress.

Last December, police in Tehran said they would no longer arrest women for failing to observe the dress code.

The announcement suggested an easing, called for by the young and reform-minded Iranians who helped re-elect Hassan Rouhani as president earlier this year.

Many Islamists believe hijab should not be imposed by the law, but consider it a religious obligation for every Muslim woman.