June 17, 2022
The head of Iran’s Public Culture Council has announced that women’s coats that stop above the knee are now banned and that women cannot wear longer coats without buttoning them up.
As reported by the state news agency, in a meeting with reporters in Sari May 26, Majid Emami-Asr said the low production of women’s clothing in Iran and an influx of cheaper, foreign made garments has led to “chastity and hejab being diverted to extremes and deviance.” He did not make clear how the location of the manufacturer impacted chastity, but many hardliners in Iran see everything with a foreign link as evil and threatening.
Part of the problem, he said, was the lack of a standardized sizing system and approved designs. “Now we have a clear and unified rule, according to which coats that fall above knee-height are prohibited.”
He said the Raisi Administration “supports the disciplinary approach of the Public Culture Council toward social anomalies, especially with regard to chastity and hejab. Abuses are being perpetrated through the import of clothing.” Emami-Asr also called on Iranian lawmakers to reduce the import tariff on black chadors to zero, so as to reduce their price in shops and encourage more women to wear them.