Iran Cracks Down On Women's Dress

Police in Tehran have been ordering Iranian women to cover up, stopping those they perceive as "badly veiled." The crackdown followed the 2005 election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "We are certainly seeing a return to behavior we haven't seen for 10 years," Hadi Ghaemi of Human Rights Watch told reporters. "Generally, the imposition of strict Islamic codes has been increasing under Ahmadinejad." Ghaemi said that the penalty for violating a code that requires the complete covering of women's heads and bodies in public depends on the officers involved and the women's political connections."The person could end up in jail depending on their relationship with the authorities," he said. "Generally, the imposition of strict Islamic codes has been increasing under Ahmadinejad." Just as women in recent years had pushed the boundaries by wearing head scarves that revealed more than they hid, many Iranians had flouted the law banning them from owning satellite dishes, the report said. The government has been cracking down on them as well.