Iranian authorities have closed 137 shops and 18 restaurants since Saturday because they did not comply with the headscarf requirement for women. This is reported by the Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, Sunday. The action comes about 24 hours after the police announced that they would monitor whether women wear their headscarves via cameras.
On Saturday, the Iranian government announced that the police would use cameras to identify and track women who do not wear their headscarves. The cameras are installed in public places and along roads.
Women who have been identified first receive a text message with a warning, after which measures are taken. The police also warned that businesses could be closed if employees or visitors do not comply with the dress code and called on them to “seriously enforce social norms”.
Headscarf in the car
According to state news agency Mizan hundreds of women have since been identified who were not wearing headscarves in their cars and warned of the consequences. Women who still do not wear a headscarf while driving after this message will be removed from the road by the police.
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Some women in Iran refuse to wear their headscarves since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The Kurdish Amini was arrested in September last year by the vice police, which monitors compliance with the strict dress code for women, because she would not have worn her headscarf properly. During her arrest, she was beaten so badly that she later died of her injuries in hospital.
After her death, Iranian women protested en masse against the strict dress code and millions of people took to the streets for months to protest against the government. Dozens of people died in the protests. Demonstrators were brutally beaten down by the authorities, Iranians arrested were imprisoned or executed.