Raj
27-04-2007, 04:04 PM
It is the talk of the town. The latest police crackdown on Islamic dress has angered many Iranians - male, female, young and old.
They are stopping pedestrians and even cars - warning female drivers not show any hair - and impounding the vehicles and arresting the women if they argue back.
Middle-aged women, foreign tourists and journalists have all been harassed, not just the young and fashionably dressed.
Overnight the standard of what is acceptable dress has slipped back.
Though the authorities want coverage internally to scare women - they don't want the story broadcast abroad.
The BBC's cameraman was detained when he tried to film the police at work and the government denied us permission to go on patrol with the police.
And it's not just women who are being targeted this year.
Young men are being cautioned for wearing short sleeved shirts or for their hairstyles.
Morad - a hairdresser whose gelled hair is made to stand straight up - says it's necessary for him to look like this to attract customers.
"These last few days I don't dare walk down the main roads looking like this case I get arrested," he says.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6596933.stm
They are stopping pedestrians and even cars - warning female drivers not show any hair - and impounding the vehicles and arresting the women if they argue back.
Middle-aged women, foreign tourists and journalists have all been harassed, not just the young and fashionably dressed.
Overnight the standard of what is acceptable dress has slipped back.
Though the authorities want coverage internally to scare women - they don't want the story broadcast abroad.
The BBC's cameraman was detained when he tried to film the police at work and the government denied us permission to go on patrol with the police.
And it's not just women who are being targeted this year.
Young men are being cautioned for wearing short sleeved shirts or for their hairstyles.
Morad - a hairdresser whose gelled hair is made to stand straight up - says it's necessary for him to look like this to attract customers.
"These last few days I don't dare walk down the main roads looking like this case I get arrested," he says.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6596933.stm