Women with suntans will be arrested in Iran
Tehran's police chief has warned that all women bearing a suntan will be arrested and potentially imprisoned, the British Daily Telegraph has reported.
Brig Hossien Sajedinia spoke out on the issue of female appearance and attire, stating that any woman that violated the "spirit of Islamic law" or looked like a "walking mannequin", would be punished.
He reportedly said: "The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehaviour by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values. In some areas of north Tehran we can see many suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins.
"We are not going to tolerate this situation and will first warn those found in this manner and then arrest and imprison them."
Iranian law stipulates that females dress according to Islamic values and requires them to wear headscarves and loose-fitting, figure-disguising cloaks, a rule that has been recently disregarded due to a lack of legal clarity, and a growing desire for fashion in the capital city Tehran.
According to the Telegraph, Brig Hossien Sajedinia's attempt to dissuade females from dressing "immodestly" is part of a wider scaremongering campaign to quell the opposition movement, claiming that vice and flagrant behaviour is taking over Tehran.
Recently another senior cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, made claims that revealing female clothing disturbed young men and also caused earthquakes.
"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
His statements follow an assertion by Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that an earthquake could hit Tehran in the near future, according the Associated Press. Iran is earthquake prone and seismologists have warned previously that the 12 million inhabitants of the capital are greatly at risk of disaster.
"What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?" Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi continued. "There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's moral codes."
Sedighi's comments sparked a worldwide online response now known as "Boobquake" where 200,000 Facebook and Twitter users pledged support to a facetious experiment that asked women to wear revealing clothing in an attempt to initiate an earthquake.
