Dozens of shops, restaurants closed in Iran for serving women without hijab
Tehran, Apr 17 (EFE).- The Iranian authorities have shut down hundreds of stores and eateries for failing to comply with the rule requiring women to wear the Islamic headscarf in public.
According to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), citing a police spokesperson, law enforcement agents were forced to close 137 stores and 18 restaurants and garden halls and file lawsuits against them because they ignored earlier notifications and served women who were not wearing the hijab.
“We are certain that all citizens support and promote spirituality and normative clothing in the society while following the recommendations of the police and other organizations in charge of public culture in the field of hijab observance,” said the spokesperson, Saeed Montazerolmahdi.
Iranian authorities have begun executing a plan to reintroduce the headscarf, a garment that many women have abandoned since the death of Turkish woman Mahsa Amini in September last year.
Amini was arrested by morals police on Sep.13, last year, reportedly for incorrectly wearing her hijab.
The death in jail spurred massive anti-government rallies, and the months-long turmoil morphed into demands for the abolition of the Islamic Republic established by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.
Hundreds of people died in almost three months of protests.
The security forces arrested at least 2,000 people for inciting and participating in demonstrations. Several of them have been sentenced to death.
The authorities began implementing the hijab law on Saturday.
Police also sent messages to 3,500 women for violating the rule as they were seen driving without wearing the hijab.
“The message is a preliminary warning and if you insist on repeating the crime of not covering yourself with a veil, you will face the law,” the warning text said.
Shargh noted that hoarding reminding women to wear headscarves have been put up in shopping malls in Tehran.
The police have asked large stores to place gatekeepers at the entrances to warn women to cover their heads.
The law punishes women who do not cover themselves with a veil with fines and up to two months in prison.
The authorities are also considering other options like depriving banking services for women without hijab.
Women caught uncovered in cars face possible seizure of their vehicles.
The judicial authorities said they would prosecute people, encouraging women to remove the mandatory Islamic headscarf.
At the beginning of the month, the education and health ministries announced that they would not allow students who do not wear headscarves to attend universities and colleges. EFE
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