Police in Iran on Saturday announced a crackdown on women who do not abide by the country’s hijab law.
According to local media, police began a campaign named “Noor,” the Persian word for light, to clamp down on those who break the dress code.
“From today the police in Tehran, as in other provinces, will implement their measures against this sort of violation of the law regarding hijab,” said Abbas Ali Mohammadian, the capital’s police chief.
People who did not pay attention to previous police warnings will be specially warned in the city from today and legal action will be taken against them,” Mohammadian stated.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said days earlier that women in the Islamic republic must follow the dress code regardless of their beliefs.
“The hijab issue, which has now become an imposed challenge, did not exist before,” Khamenei said, blaming “the intervention of foreigners.”
Iranian media on Saturday posted images of patrol vans from the morality police in Tehran’s Valiasr Square.
The authorities also closed down cafes and restaurants where the wearing of hijab was not followed.
Iran’s morality police had previously kept a low profile after protests broke out over the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurd who died days after she was detained for allegedly not following the dress code.
After Amini’s death, more women across the country began appearing in public without following the dress code.
