Iran arrests marathon organizer for women not wearing headscarves

Iran’s judiciary says two marathon organizers have been arrested for allowing women to compete without headscarves.

The move comes after images emerged online of undisclosed women taking part in the game on Friday.

2,000 women and 3,000 men took part in the marathon on the island of Kish off the southern coast of Iran.

Some of the female contestants, who were wearing red T-shirts, were apparently not wearing hijabs or any other headscarves.

This elicited very different reactions.

Many supporters of change in Iran enthusiastically praised the images, seeing them as further evidence that Iranian women are rejecting authorities’ restrictions on what they can wear.

Iranian officials responded that this was an unacceptable challenge to the status quo.

The judiciary took swift action against the organizers.

Not only were some female competitors flouting hijab rules, but the marathon’s staging also drew condemnation from the country’s theocratic Islamic leadership.

Just a few years ago, seeing so many Iranian women in sports gear at such a large public event — even if segregated from male attendees — would have been considered a violation.

Prosecutor Kish said the way the game was held itself “violated public morals”.

The hijab issue remains at the heart of the debate over where Iran might go.

Government action against women who appear in public without headscarves varies – sometimes allowing rules to be relaxed and other times cracking down on any violations.

The massive protests that rocked Iran for months three years ago were sparked by the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman. Mahsa Amini dies in custody Detained on suspicion of dress code violation.

Since the protests were suppressed with force and mass arrests, some Iranian women have continued to defy the rules.

This has prompted a recent pushback from authorities.

The head of the judiciary has warned of a renewed campaign against women who do not wear headscarves in public.

Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said intelligence agencies had been ordered to identify and report on what he called “organized trends promoting immorality and non-wearing of hijab”.

The standoff between Iran’s leaders and many of its own people, especially the younger generation, over how women should dress is clearly not over yet.