WUNRN
The Guardian - UK - 14 June 2011 -
By Saeed Kamali Dehghan
IRAN - "MORAL POLICE"
ENFORCE DRESS CODE FOR WOMEN & MEN
More than 70,000 trained forces sent out to streets as part of effort to
combat 'western cultural invasion'
Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei,
Iranian men have been banned from
wearing necklaces in the latest crackdown by the Islamic regime on
"un-Islamic" clothing and haircuts.
Thousands of special forces have
been deployed in
The new plan comes shortly after
the Iranian parliament proposed a bill to criminalise dog ownership, on the grounds
that it "poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture
of the west".
The Irna state news agency said
the trend was aimed at combating "the western cultural invasion" with
help from more than 70,000 trained forces, known as "moral police",
who are sent out to the streets in the capital and other cities.
With the summer heat sweeping
across the country, many people, especially the young, push the boundaries and
run the risk of being fined, or even arrested, for wearing "bad
hijab" clothing.
Women in particular are under
more pressure because of the restriction on them to cover themselves from head
to toe. Men are allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts, but not shorts.
"The enforcement of the
moral security plan was requested by the nation and it will be continued until
people's concerns are properly addressed," said Ahmadreza Radan, the
deputy commander of the Iranian police.
Iran's moral police usually
function under a body whose head is appointed directly by the supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a live television programme last year, president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he did not approve of the crackdown.
Speaking by phone, a Tehran
resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's not only about
clamping down on clothing, but they are spreading panic and fear by sending out
this much of police into the streets under the name of this plan, to control
the society. It's unbelievable to see a regime that is not only concerned about
its own survival but it goes into your personal life and interferes in
that."
Under Islamic customs, dogs are
deemed to be "unclean". Iranians, in general, avoid keeping them at
home, but still a minority, especially in north
Last summer authorities in