AFP: Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament plans to implement a new dress code for woman journalists who cover its proceedings, the ILNA news agency reported Saturday.
TEHRAN, February 5, 2011 (AFP) – Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament plans to implement a new dress code for woman journalists who cover its proceedings, the ILNA news agency reported Saturday.
“Some woman reporters do not dress appropriately for the atmosphere of the parliament,” conservative MP Fatemeh Rahbar told ILNA.
“It has been provisioned to prepare clothes with regard to the reporters’ taste and by observing Islamic codes,” she added, without elaborating.
Islamic dress has been mandatory for women in Iran since the 1979 revolution, with every adult female — regardless of religion and nationality — required to cover her hair and bodily contours in public.
Iran’s female MPs, all staunch conservatives, wear the traditional black enveloping head-to-toe chador, but many government employees just opt for a headscarf and long coat.
Urban women often push the boundaries with figure-hugging short coats and loose headscarves that generously display locks of hair.
Last June, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came under fire from fellow hardliners after saying he opposed a crackdown on dress and behaviour.
