The easing of stringent regulations governing social interactions comes after Riyadh launched its first tourist visa scheme, as part of efforts to open up the country to foreign visitors and diversify its oil-reliant economy.

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The Saudi Commission for Tourism & National Heritage posted the new requirements on Twitter Sunday, confirming a Friday report by the Saudi daily Okaz.

The commission said women will be allowed to rent hotel rooms with proof of identity – an ID card for Saudi women, residency card for foreign residents living in the kingdom or passport for tourists. The same would be required of foreign couples, without the need for them to present a marriage certificate. Previously women needed permission from a male guardian to rent a hotel room.

Women will also be allowed to rent hotel rooms without any form of identification if they have a male guardian present who does have proof of identity, it said.

The move comes amid deep reforms over the past year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman which has lifted a ban on movie theaters in the kingdom and the world's only ban on women driving.

Critics note there are limits to the reforms and point to last year's killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and the reported torture of several detained women's rights activists.

Saudi announced the new tourist visa scheme last week, saying it was aiming to increase tourism to contribute up to 10% of gross domestic product compared to 3% currently. For the launch of its new visa, the country was highlighting five UNESCO World Heritage sites, contemporary art sites and natural sites including the Red Sea, desert and mountains.

Previously visitor visas were issued only for specific reasons such as for Muslim religious pilgrimages, to visit family or for business.

The one-year, multiple-entry visa scheme allows for stays of up to 90 days at a time and marks the first time the country is allowing foreigners to visit solely for the purpose of tourism. Citizens of 49 eligible countries can apply online or on arrival, while those from other countries will have to apply at their nearest Saudi embassy or consulate.

As part of the drive to attract foreign visitors, the kingdom is easing strict dress codes for tourist women, requiring shoulders and knees to be covered in public but not demanding they wear the full-body abaya, according to guidelines posted on its visa information website.

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With every step, she risks harassment or even arrest by Iran's morality police whose job is to enforce the strict dress code imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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"I have to confess it is really, really scary," the 30-year-old fire-safety consultant said in a WhatsApp audio message, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.

But she is also hopeful, saying she believes the authorities find it increasingly difficult to suppress protests as more women join in. "They are running after us, but cannot catch us," she said. "This is why we believe change is going to be made."

The hijab debate has further polarized Iranians at a time when the country is buckling under unprecedented US sanctions imposed since the Trump administration pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year. It's unclear to what extent the government can enforce hijab compliance amid an economic malaise, including a currency collapse and rising housing prices.

There's anecdotal evidence that more women are pushing back against the dress code, trying to redefine red lines as they test the response of the ruling Shiite Muslim clergy and their security agencies.

An Associated Press reporter spotted about two dozen women in the streets without a hijab over the course of nine days, mainly in well-to-do areas of Tehran – a mall, a lakeside park, a hotel lobby.

Many other women, while stopping short of outright defiance, opted for loosely draped colorful scarves that show as much hair as they cover. Even in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, frequented by many traditional women, most female shoppers wore these casual hijabs. Still, a sizeable minority of women was covered head-to-toe in black robes and tightly pulled headscarves, the so-called chador.

The struggle against compulsory headscarves first made headlines in December 2017 when a woman climbed atop a utility box in Tehran's Revolution Street, waving her hijab on a stick. More than three dozen protesters have been detained since, including nine who are currently in detention, said Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist who now lives in New York.

Despite attempts to silence protesters, public debate has intensified, amplified by social media.

Last month, a widely watched online video showed a security agent grab an unveiled teenage girl and violently push her into the back of a police car, prompting widespread criticism.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have supported a softer attitude toward women who don't comply with the official dress code. However, hard-liners opposed to such easing have become more influential as the nuclear deal is faltering.

They have called for harsh punishment, even lashes, arguing that allowing women to show their hair leads to moral decay and the disintegration of families. The judiciary recently urged Iranians to inform on women without hijabs by sending photos and videos to designated social media accounts.

"The more women dress in an openly sexual way, the less we'll have social peace, while facing a higher crime rate," Minoo Aslani, head of the women's branch of the paramilitary Basij group, told a rally last week.

Another gathering was attended by several thousand women in chadors. One held up a sign reading, "The voluntary hijab is a plot by the enemy."

Reformist lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri said coercion does not work. "What we see is that the morality police have been a failure," said Salahshouri, who wears a headscarf out of religious belief.

Changing hijab rules through legislation is unlikely because of the constraints on parliament, she said.

Instead, women should engage in nonviolent civil disobedience, Salahshouri said. She cautioned that it's a slow, difficult road, but that "Iranian women have not given up their efforts."

The hijab controversy goes back to the mid-1930s when police forced women to take off their hijabs, part of a Westernization policy by then-Shah Reza Pahlavi. Under his son and successor, women could choose. Western apparel was common among the elite.

A 2018 survey by a parliament research center indicates that most women wear a casual hijab and only 13% opt for a chador.

Attitudes have changed. In 1980, two-thirds believed women should wear hijabs. Today, fewer than 45% approve of government intervention in the issue, the research said.

Iran has seen waves of anti-government protests, including an outcry after a 2009 election many contended was stolen by hard-liners. Those with economic grievances frequently protest.

Alinejad, the activist, argued the campaign against forced hijabs carries symbolic weight, saying that mandatory headscarves were "the symbol that the Iranian government used to take the whole society hostage."

In recent years, she has posted videos and photos of activists, including of women filming themselves as they walk in the streets without a headscarf. Alinejad said she receives more than 20 images a day, but posts only some.

The activists in Iran take risks.

In March, human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has represented female protesters, was sentenced to 38.5 years in prison, of which she must serve 12, according to her husband.

In April, activists Yasaman Aryani, her mother Monireh Arabshahi and Mojgan Keshavarz were arrested after posting a video showing them without headscarves in the Tehran metro. In the video, they distributed flowers to female passengers and spoke of a day when women have the freedom to choose.

Amnesty International said Monday that Iranian authorities have used incommunicado detentions, prolonged solitary confinement, and threats against family members to coerce detained activists to retract their opposition to forced veiling in videotaped "confessions." The group said it had detected such a pattern in six cases since April.

Some activists maneuver carefully.

The 30-year-old fire-safety consultant said she tries to avoid policemen when she walks the streets without a hijab. She said she grudgingly complies with the dress code when she delivers lectures or sings in a mixed choir – activities she would otherwise be barred from.

At the high-end Palladium Mall in northern Tehran, several shoppers casually ignored a sign reminding customers that the hijab is mandatory. One woman only pulled up her scarf, which was draped around her shoulders, when she stepped into an elevator and found herself next to a security guard.

Nearby, 20-year-old Paniz Masoumi sat on the stone steps of a plaza. She had dyed some of her hair blue but kept that funky patch hidden under a loose scarf.

She said police recently impounded her car for two weeks, fining her amid claims that a traffic camera snapped her with a below-standard hijab.

If hijabs were voluntary, she'd throw off hers, Masoumi said. But for now, "I am not looking for trouble."

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"Even if it was a religious woman, it wouldn't be OK. The complicated vortex of politics is not the arena for the role of women," Aviner said.

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Shaked, who is currently vacationing in Canada with her family, responded on Twitter, saying she "just wanted to remind everyone" that women can do everything – including "serve as party leader, mayor, company CEO and even prime minister."

Meanwhile, the religious Zionist party Habayit Hayehudi is saying that women play an "important role" in political activity.

On Thursday afternoon, Habayit Hayehudi released a statement on the status of women in its ranks, claiming that "Habayit Hayehudi is the first party that put together a major women's forum and fosters women as leaders, and some 45% of Habayit Hayehudi members are women."

"In addition, the party has places reserved on its list for women to promote appropriate representation [of women] in the Knesset. … We believe that women have an important place in Israeli activity," the party statement read.

Aviner is a signatory to a petition circulated in the national-religious camp against Shaked being appointed head of the United Right. Although the petition makes does not explicitly mention Shaked by name, it reads, "We support [United Right leader] Rabbi Rafi Peretz's position that a God-fearing Jew who observes Torah and mitzvot must be at the head of the national religious party."

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