Iran to clamp down on 'women dressed like models'

Iran will next week launch an annual summer crackdown on women, as well as men, whose dress is deemed to be out of line with its Islamic laws, the media reported on Tuesday.

The deputy head of Tehran's police Hossein Sadjedi-Nia warned that women "dressed up like models" with overly short mantos (coats), tight outergarments and inadequate headscarves would face being apprehended in the crackdown.

"The police forces are going to act against women who dress up like models in town. This drive is no different from the campaigns of previous years," he said.

"The arrested women will be taken to four centres. They will have to give a written engagement not to repeat the offence and can then leave when their family brings the appropriate clothing," he explained.

The police chief said that the drive, which starts on Saturday, will also target men "who wear clothes with offensive slogans and chains with certain insignia."

Women in Iran are by law obliged to cover their head with hijab (Islamic head covering) and a full length overcoat that covers all bodily contours. Visiting foreigners and religious minorities are not exempted.

Each year, as Iran's hot summer begins, the authorities announce a crackdown on loose dressing as hem lines become shorter and more skin is revealed.

However in recent years many Iranian women, especially in the capital Tehran, have sought to test the boundaries by pushing their headscarves back to reveal more hair as well as wearing shorter and tighter mantos.

When the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in June 2005 there were expectations that the authorities would clamp down firmly on women's dress in public.

However there has been no sign of dress sense changing and the government has repeatedly said it wants to encourage people to dress better through encouragement rather than coercion.