Saturday, Iranian police announced the implementation of a plan to deal with women who violate the country’s Islamic dress code.
Since the protest movement sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini for purportedly flouting the dress code, the number of women defying the requirement to wear a headscarf in public has increased.
A statement on the police website on Saturday stated that action would be taken “today” regarding violations in public places, vehicles, and other “locations where hijab is occasionally removed.”
“In this context, technology will be utilized for the intelligent identification of lawbreakers,” it stated.
“Removing the hijab is considered a crime, and the police deal with social anomalies within the framework of the law,” Security Police Chief Hassan Mofakhami was quoted as saying in the statement.
“Those who violate the law are accountable for their actions and should be held accountable for their conduct,” he added.
After Amini’s murder on September 16, three days after her morality police detention, civic protests swept the Islamic Republic. Mofakhami also warned that companies whose employees removed their headscarves on the job would be forced to close.
He warned that “if the warning is repeated, business closure will be considered.
Last week, police superintendent Ahmad-Reza Radan said “smart equipment” will identify headscarf-less people.
“Those who remove their hijab in public will receive a warning and then be brought before the courts,” he said.
