HEADLINES:
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R/£ Iran gets tough on women over Islamic dress code
April 23, 2007 Edition 1
Tehran - Iran has issued more than a thousand warnings and arrested dozens in a new drive aimed at forcing women whose dress is deemed inappropriate to adhere to Islamic dress rules, according to officials.
The nationwide drive - an annual pre-summer crackdown given greater prominence this year - is aimed primarily at women whose coats are seen as too tight, trousers excessively short or hejabs (headscarves) overly loose.
It foresees handing out warnings and guidance to women found to have infringed its dress code in public. Those who show resistance to change can be arrested and then be the subject of legal proceedings.
"Since the plan started on Saturday, 1 347 women have been warned and given Islamic guidance," the head of information at Tehran city's police force, Mehdi Ahmadi, said yesterday.
"There were 170 arrests. Of these, 58 were released after making a written commitment and rectifying their appearance. The cases of the rest, who already had a record, were handed over to the judiciary," he said.
Iranian newspapers printed pictures of women in tight and colourful clothing being given warnings on Tehran's streets by female police officers dressed in chadors as the crackdown got under way on Saturday.
Twenty shops selling inappropriate clothing were also closed down, Ahmadi said.
The programme was aimed at "improving the security of society with an approach of moral security", he added.
The authorities have argued that the drive is aimed at encouraging women to dress in line with Islamic dress code, and it appears that the emphasis is more on handing out warnings than detaining offenders.
Conservatives have applauded the new crackdown as necessary to preserve public morals as women in Tehran increasingly push the boundaries over what is permissible to wear in public.
When the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in June 2005 there were expectations that the authorities would clamp down firmly on women's dress in public.
However, the situation has not changed and past attempts to bring women into line have petered out after a few weeks.
An editorial in the hardline Kayhan newspaper said police were right to ignore the wishes of those who favoured a more lenient approach. - Sapa-AFP
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