Judicial authorities in Iran have arrested two organisers of a marathon held on an island off the country’s southern coast after images emerged showing women taking part in the race without hijabs.
The arrests on Saturday come as the authorities face increasing criticism from ultraconservatives who accuse them of inadequate efforts to enforce a mandatory headscarf law for women amid fears of growing western influence on the Islamic republic.
Online images of the marathon on Friday, which took place on Kish Island and attracted about 5,000 participants, showed a number of women competing without headscarves.
“Two of the main organisers of the competition were arrested on warrants,” the judiciary’s Mizan news website reported on Saturday. “One of those arrested is an official in the Kish free zone, and the other works for the private company that organised the race,” it added.
The judiciary said a criminal case had been opened against the organisers of the race.
“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 local prosecutor was quoted as saying in Mizan.
“Considering the violations that occurred and based on the laws and regulations, a criminal case has been filed against the officials and agents organising this event.”
Conservative-aligned outlets, including Tasnim and Fars, had earlier condemned the marathon as indecent and disrespectful to Islamic laws enforced after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed shah.
Although women in Iran are required to cover their hair and wear modest, loose-fitting clothing in public, observance of the hijab rules has become more sporadic since the demonstrations in 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman arrested over an alleged dress code breach.
Earlier this week, a majority of lawmakers accused the judiciary of failing to uphold the hijab law. The chief justice, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, later called for stricter enforcement.
The government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has refused to ratify a bill passed by the parliament that would have imposed tough penalties for women who do not observe the dress code.
In May 2023, the head of Iran’s athletics federation resigned after women without headscarves took part in a sporting event in the southern city of Shiraz.
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