WUNRN
IRAN - ENFORCEMENT OF ISLAMIC DRESS
CODES - ALL SEASONS - WOMEN
IRAN: Tight Trousers Targeted in
Iran Clothing Crackdown
December 1, 2007
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian police
will crack down on women in Tehran flouting Islamic dress codes with winter
fashions deemed immodest, such as tight trousers tucked into long boots, an
officer was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"Considering
the start of the cold season and its special way of dressing, police will start
early next week a drive against women who wear improper dress," Tehran
police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
"Tight
trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against
Islamic codes," the police chief said.
"Wearing
a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes."
Police
officials were not immediately available for comment. The Iranian week begins
on Saturday.
Police
regularly clamp down on skimpier clothing and looser headscarves in the summer.
Usually this is for just a few weeks but this year the campaign has run into
the autumn.
There has
not recently been a move against winter fashion.
Enforcement
of Islamic dress codes that require women to cover their hair and disguise the
shape of their body with loose overcoats has become progressively sterner since
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.
Women found
dressing inappropriately may be warned or, particularly for repeat offenders,
can be taken to a police station and fined. Police this year have also cracked
down on men sporting what are considered "Western" spiked haircuts.
In October,
a newspaper said 122,000 people, mostly women, had been warned about their
clothing and nearly 7,000 of those had to attend classes on respecting the
rules.
Young women,
particularly in wealthier urban areas, often challenge limitations by wearing
tight clothing and colorful headscarves that barely cover their hair. The codes
are less commonly challenged in poor suburbs and rural regions.
Iran has
rejected criticism by rights groups of such crackdowns and said its efforts
were aimed at "fighting morally corrupt people".
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