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Men wearing shorts have been arrested in Iran amid a fresh crackdown by the morality police.
A new bill making its way through Iran’s parliament is set to harden the rules governing how men can dress in public but authorities have started enforcing it before its formal approval.
Videos posted online showed Iranian security forces violently beating men for baring their legs. In the capital, Tehran, several police officers were recorded insulting and beating a man inside a metro station.
One officer said: “You cow, you donkey. Do you think with a few ‘woman, life, freedom’ slogans, you can do whatever the f**k you want?” At the same time other officers slapped the man in the face.
The police officer was referring to the months-long, women-led protests that erupted after the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing an “improper hijab”.
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Amid temperatures of up to 45°C and regular power outages, many Iranians have been struggling to cope with extreme heat.
Iran’s police, the Basij paramilitary force and the headquarters for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, have been tasked with overseeing the crackdown on male attire.
Article 49 of the bill specifies what constitutes “improper clothing” for men. It says: “Improper clothing for men means wearing clothing that is against public modesty, such as clothing that does not cover a part of the body lower than the chest or higher than the ankle.”
Article 50 of the bill mandates that anyone found “naked, semi-naked, or wearing clothing deemed improper in public” will be immediately arrested and handed over to judicial authorities.
The bill also implements gender segregation across a wide range of settings, including universities, hospitals, educational and administrative centres, parks and tourist sites.
Those found in breach of the new rules also face a ban on leaving the country and on using social media for a period of six months to two years.
‘They grabbed me by the neck’
Meysam, a Tehran resident was apprehended by the notorious morality police while taking a walk in shorts during a hot day early this month.
“I told my wife that I need to go for a walk, I could not breathe and the air condition was off due to a power outage,” Meysam told Telegraph.
“Twenty minutes into my walk, a white van suddenly stopped near me,” he recalled. “At first, I thought they might have noticed a woman without a headscarf and stopped for her.
“But then, three men jumped out of the van and asked, ‘Where do you think you’re living?’ I was confused and was trying to understand what was happening.
“They grabbed me by the neck and forced me into the back of the van. They said they were taking me to the social security police.”
Inside the van, there was another man and three girls, all of whom had been arrested for their clothing.
“The girls were crying, but the men were just in shock,” Meysam said. “We never imagined they would be so harsh with us simply for wearing shorts.”
The 35-year-old software engineer recounted that the officers told them “humiliating things” inside the van before they arrived at the station.
“There were a few more men in the station, all in shorts and so many girls,” he said. The cases of Meysam and other men at the station were not referred to the prosecutor’s office.
The officials at the station told them that once they signed a document to commit that they would not wear shorts in public again, they could leave without further action. In contrast, some of the women present were given a document indicating that a case would be filed and sent to the prosecutor’s office.
Meanwhile, a station for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice in the city of Mashhad has imposed stricter regulations on men’s public appearance.
According to this station’s guidelines, men are prohibited from wearing ties, bow ties, and other “Western symbols”, as well as tight or short shirts and gold jewellery.
The items are deemed inappropriate for men’s hijab and attire.
Source Agencies
