Crackdown on women spreads to Iran’s provinces

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, May 12 – Iranian security forces have extended their crackdown on “mal-veiled” women from Tehran to Iran’s other provinces. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, May 12 – Iranian security forces have extended their crackdown on “mal-veiled” women from Tehran to Iran’s other provinces.

The semi-official daily Jomhouri Islami quoted on Wednesday the head of the State Security Forces in the province of Gilan, northern Iran, as saying that 15 women had been arrested on charges of “mal-veiling”.

The women were all arrested in the provincial capital, Rasht, it said, adding that a number of other women had also received warnings that they would also be arrested if they breached the Islamic dress code.

The crackdown, which began in Tehran in mid-April, coincided with a call by Majlis (Parliament) deputies for the adoption of a bill to regulate women’s attire during the hot summer months.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise the shape of their bodies in public.

Penalties for disobeying the dress code are severe. Women caught flouting the code can receive lashes, jail sentences, and large fines.