President Ebrahim Raisi says "hijab is a legal matter" in Iran after a viral video showed a man throwing yogurt at two uncovered women.
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has threatened to prosecute women who appear in public unveiled, Al Jazeera reports.
The man who threw the yogurt and the two women were ordered to be arrested by judicial authorities in a town near Mashhad.
- The women were charged with "committing a forbidden act" in flouting the dress code.
- The man was charged with "committing an insulting act and disturbance of order."
- Women continue to be unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops, and streets, risking arrest.
- Raisi says the hijab is a legal requirement and uses persuasion to enforce it.
- The dairy shop owner who confronted the attacker had been warned, and his shop was temporarily closed.
Under Iranian law, women must cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Violators face public rebuke, fines, or arrest.
- Women have been defying authorities and discarding their veils since the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the country's morality police in September 2022.
