Tehran, Iran.- Iran will ban women from entering museums and other public places if they do not wear the Islamic headscarf, a garment that is part of the dress code for women in the country.
According to the Etemad newspaper, the head of the general directorate of museums, Morteza Adibzadeh, said that this measure is given “to protect public safety and cultural affairs.”
This is the latest measure in a series of actions by the authority against women who refuse to obey the dress code. Police have installed security cameras in public places to punish women who do not wear a headscarf.
Authorities say they have closed 155 businesses that did not comply with laws requiring women to wear hijabs. They also sent text messages to 3,500 non-veiled citizens.
The requirement that women wear the veil in public was imposed shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The number of women in Iran challenging the dress code has risen since a wave of protests sparked the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish Mahsa Amini on September 16 for allegedly raping him.
Iran has accused two prominent actresses of posting photos of themselves violating the country’s women’s dress code, just weeks after announcing a crackdown on such violations.
Tehran police have referred the case against Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram to Iran’s judiciary, charging them with the “crime of removing hijab in public and posting photos on the Internet,” the Tasnim news agency said late Monday.
If prosecuted, the actresses could face fines or prison terms.
Bahram and Riahi have won several awards at the Fajr International Film Festival, Iran’s premier film event.
In November, Riahi was released on bail after more than a week in detention for posting photos on Instagram in solidarity with the Amini protests, showing her without a headscarf.
Riahi was the first Iranian actress to post such images on social media in support of the protest movement.
