Iran installs cameras to identify unveiled women in public
Iranian authorities are installing cameras in public places to identify and penalise unveiled women, the police announced on Saturday.
Growing numbers of women have defied authorities by discarding their veils after nationwide protests that followed the death in September of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating hijab rules. Security forces violently put down the revolt.
"With the use of advanced technology and equipment, the person is identified," Iran’s chief of police said before adding: "She will be warned. Then that person will be introduced to the judicial system with the documents to deal with the issue."
On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme leader Khameini said: "It is not a government restriction. It is legal and religious. Unveiling the hijab is forbidden in sharia."
Under Iran's Islamic Sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators have faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Reuters
