A man who attacked a woman in Iran in an alleged row over her veil was humiliated when she fought back in front of passers-by.

Footage shows the bearded man harassing the woman on a pavement before kicking her into the road - only for her to grapple with him and push him against a wall.

Reports on social media said the man had confronted her because she was not wearing her veil properly, a sensitive subject in hard-line Iran.

Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, who has spearheaded a campaign against the compulsory wearing of the veil, said that 'many Iranian woman face this'.

This footage shows how a man who attacked a woman in Iran in an alleged row over her veil was humiliated when she fought back in front of passers-by

'In broad daylight in Iran, a woman walking in the street is physically harassed by a pro-regime vigilante due to her hijab,' is how Alinejad described the video.

'Next time they tell you compulsory hijab is a small issue, show them this video.'

She added: 'I've talked to this 42-year-old woman. She said she went to the police station to file a complaint.

'Yet, the authorities refused to arrest the man because 1) she only faced internal injuries 2) the man said he was voluntarily enforcing morality codes.'

At the start of the clip, the bearded man is walking towards the camera and notices the woman walking the other way on the pavement.

He stops and appears to scold her, but she initially ignores him and walks on.

The man then turns around and follows her, continuing to lecture her before standing in her path to stop her walking away.

He then turns violent by aiming a kick at her with his right foot, knocking her off the pavement and into the road between two parked cars.

After dodging another blow, the woman fights back and starts to grapple at the man's face, continuing to tussle with him despite tripping on the kerb.

She eventually pushes the surprised man in the face and forces him backwards against a wall, before he throws her off again.

By this point, two passers-by had noticed what was happening and tried to stand between them to protect the woman from the attack.

At the start of the clip the bearded man is walking towards the camera and notices the woman walking the other way on the pavement, proceeding to confront her

The man turns violent by aiming a kick at her with his right foot, knocking her off the pavement and into the road between two parked cars, but she fights back and forces him against a wall

The scuffle continued despite attempts by passers-by to break the two people up, until a larger crowd of people had gathered around them and the woman's veil had completely come off

But far from being scared, the woman resumed her counter-attack with the two passers-by abandoning their attempts to intervene.

The scuffle continued until a larger crowd of people had gathered around them and the woman's veil had completely come off. The man then walked out of shot, with reports saying that he had fled in a car.

The Islamic dress code, in place since the 1979 revolution, considers veiling obligatory for any woman older than 13 in Iran.

Offenders face fines, whipping or a prison sentence.

Amnesty International says women and girls are regularly stopped in the street by morality police and vigilantes in Iran.

Some protests against the dress code have erupted in recent years with protesters seeing the veil as a sign of oppression against women.

At least 39 women were arrested in 2018 in connection with anti-hijab protests, according to Amnesty.