http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070417-091327-4093r

TEHRAN — Iran will next week launch an annual summer crackdown on women, as well as men, whose dress is deemed to be out of line with its Islamic laws, the media reported Tuesday.

The deputy head of Tehran’s police Hossein Sadjedi-Nia warned that women “dressed up like models” with overly short mantos (coats), tight outer garments, and inadequate headscarves would face being apprehended in the crackdown.

“The police forces are going to act against women who dress up like models in town. This drive is no different from the campaigns of previous years,” he said.

“The arrested women will be taken to four centers. They will have to give a written engagement not to repeat the offense and can then leave when their family brings the appropriate clothing,” he explained.

The police chief said that the drive, which starts Saturday, will also target men “who wear clothes with offensive slogans and chains with certain insignia.”

Women in Iran are by law obliged to cover their head with the hijab (Islamic head covering) and a full length overcoat that covers all bodily contours. Visiting foreigners and religious minorities are not exempted.

Each year, as Iran’s hot summer begins, the authorities announce a crackdown on loose dressing as hem lines become shorter and more skin is revealed.

However, in recent years many Iranian women, especially in the capital Tehran, have sought to test the boundaries by pushing their headscarves back to reveal more hair as well as wearing shorter and tighter mantos.

When the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in June 2005 there were expectations that the authorities would clamp down firmly on women’s dress in public.

However, there has been no sign of dress sense changing and the government has repeatedly said that it wants to encourage people to dress better through encouragement rather than coercion.