Iranian authorities are placing cameras in public locations and thoroughfares to identify and sanction exposed women, the police stated on Saturday, in an effort to rein in the growing number of women who flout the mandatory clothing code.
Violators will receive “warning text messages as to the consequences” after being identified, police said in a statement.
The measure is intended to “prevent resistance to the hijab law,” according to the statement, which was broadcast by the judiciary’s Mizan news agency and other official media, adding that such defiance tarnishes the country’s spiritual image and fosters instability.
Since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police last September, an increasing number of Iranian women have abandoned their veils. Mahsa Amini was arrested for allegedly breaking the hijab rule. The security forces mercilessly suppressed the insurrection.
Women are still seen exposed in malls, restaurants, shops, and streets across the country, risking jail for disobeying the mandatory clothing code. Social internet has been inundated with videos of unveiled women defying the morality police.
The police statement on Saturday urged company owners to “seriously monitor the observance of societal norms with their diligent inspections.”
Women in Iran are required to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to conceal their figures under Islamic Sharia law, which was enforced following the 1979 revolution. Violators have faced public chastisement, fines, or arrest.
An Interior Ministry statement on March 30 stated that the veil was “one of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” and that there would be no retreat on the issue.
It advised citizens to confront ladies who were wearing veils. Historically, such directions have emboldened hardliners to assault women. A viral video last week showed a man throwing yoghurt at two naked women in a supermarket.
