This year women in Iran will not be arrested for keeping heads uncovered

Tehran: Women in the Iranian capital will no longer be arrested for going out with their heads uncovered, police has said, as the country has begun to ease up the Islamic dress code. The move comes 39 years after a strict dress code was implemented in the country after the 1979 Islamic revolution. 

The Tehran Police announced on December 27 that women no longer risk arrest for breaching the country’s the Islamic dress code, which includes wearing wear long, loose garments, and a ban on nail polish, heavy make-up and loose head-scarves. “Those who do not observe the Islamic dress code will no longer be taken to detention centres,” said Tehran Police chief General Hossein Rahimi.“We will not file judicial cases against them either.”

Rahimi, according to Tehran TImes, said that Iran was taking a softer approach to those women who do not dress modestly, opting for education over punishment.“We offer courses and more than 7,900 people have been educated in these classes so far,” he said, adding that there are more than 100 counseling centres in Tehran province to carry out the job.

Younger and more liberal-minded women have long pushed the boundaries of the official dress code, wearing loose head-scarves that don’t fully cover their hair and painting their nails, drawing the ire of conservatives. (UNI)