Iran Arrests Marathon Organizers After Women Compete Without Mandatory Hijab

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The Iranian judiciary on December 6 said it had arrested two organizers of a marathon after some women competed in the event without wearing the mandatory hijab, the Islamic headscarf that covers the head and neck.

"Despite previous warnings regarding the need to comply with the country's current laws and regulations, as well as religious, customary, and professional principles...the event was held in a way that violated public decency," the judiciary's Mizan news outlet quoted the local prosecutor’s office as saying. "Considering the violations that occurred and based on the laws and regulations, a criminal case has been filed against the officials and agents organizing this event," the report added.

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The report did not make clear if the two had been jailed, although it said “judicial supervision” had been ordered for them. It was also not immediately clear how many women defied the hijab laws. The marathon was held a day earlier on the southwestern Iranian island of Kish, attracting some 5,000 participants in separate men’s and women’s races.

Kish is in a free-trade zone in the Persian Gulf. In an effort to attract tourists to its shopping areas and beaches, head-covering laws are often less strictly enforced.

Under Iranian law, wearing of the hijab has been mandatory since soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with violators subject to lengthy prison terms, fines, and travel bans. The laws are often enforced by the country's so-called morality police.

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https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-marathon-arrest-kish-hijab-women/33615070.html