Iran: 150 businesses sealed for not banning headscarves

According to Iranian police, authorities have closed more than 150 shops and offices in the last 24 hours for women not wearing headscarves.

The closures were announced on Sunday a day after police said they had implemented a plan to target women who break the law using surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology.

Laws enacted shortly after the 1979 revolution made it mandatory for women to wear headscarves in public.

Local news agency Tasnim quoted police spokesman Syed Muntar Al-Mahdi as saying, “Unfortunately, the police had to seal 137 shops and 18 restaurants and entertainment venues for not following the warnings on the dress code.”

The crackdown comes at a time when the number of women flouting the dress code has been on the rise following nationwide protests following the suspicious death of Mehsa Amini in police custody.

Police chief Ahmad Raza Radan said last week that women who remove the headscarf will be identified using modern equipment.

Iranian police have warned that if a female passenger violates the dress code, car owners will receive a text message and their vehicle could be impounded if the ‘offence’ is committed again.

Ahmad Raza said: ‘Several hundred cases of non-compliance have been recorded by the police in the last 24 hours, while car owners have been informed through text messages.’

Last month, Judiciary Chief Ghulam Hussain Mohseni Agee said that women who do not wear headscarves will be ‘punished’.