To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Hundreds of ladies ran a marathon on Kish Island, in Iran – and not using a hijab – in what many saw as an indication of the social and cultural shift within the country.
Footage showed the runners wearing red T-shirts and letting their hair free firstly of the competition on Friday before they later posed with their medals.
It has since emerged that Iranian authorities arrested two organisers for allowing unveiled women to compete within the race, which was attended by greater than 25,000 tourists.
The dress code violations by participants were in comparison with ‘nudity’. The Tasnim news agency said the event didn’t fit ‘official frameworks’ and accused Kish Free Zone and sports officials of ignoring prior warnings.
‘Two of the principal organisers of the competition were arrested on warrants,’ the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported on Saturday, the day after the marathon took place.
It added: ‘One in all those arrested is an official within the Kish Free Zone, and the opposite works for the private company that organised the race.’
The local prosecutor was quoted as saying: ‘Despite previous warnings regarding the necessity to comply with the country’s current laws and regulations, in addition to religious, customary, and skilled principles … the event was held in a way that violated public decency.
‘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.’
Many supporters of change in Iran enthusiastically hailed the pictures as further evidence of Iranian women rejecting the restrictions placed by the authorities on what they’ll wear.
However the announcement also followed a cascade of attacks from hardline activists and media – including Tasnim.
The race, it asserted, promoted ‘open, public unveiling (and) debauchery,’ for which those responsible ‘have to be punished immediately.’
A hardline activist writing under the name Aminizadeh blasted officials as ‘careless and dishonourable,’ describing the race as a ‘disco marathon,’ Iran International reported.
‘Is that this the Islamic Republic or the Las Vegas Republic,’ he warned. ‘Who sponsored this silly act?’
The fate of those detained in relation to the compulsory veiling stays unclear.
Amnesty International called for his or her release and added: ‘Women running a marathon without veils should never result in arrests.
‘Yet Iranian authorities have detained organisers and proceed punishing women and girls resisting compulsory veiling.’
What’s the present hijab law in Iran?
The hijab law in Iran stays mandatory under existing laws, but widespread public defiance has led to varied enforcement tactics and an ongoing political debate
The concept of hijab law was first introduced through the 1979 Islamic revolution.
On March 8, 1979, 1000’s of Iranian women marched on the street, protesting the thought of imposing hijab with slogans akin to ‘freedom of alternative in clothes’.
But 4 years later, wearing it became obligatory for all Iranian women, even non-Muslims and foreigners visiting the country.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Deadly smog is suffocating greater than 14,000,000 people in capital city
MORE: Son of British woman detained in Iran on spy charges releases heartbreaking video on her birthday
MORE: Why a significant capital city with 9,700,000 people could also be forced to relocate