Women not wearing hijab to be banned from Tehran metro – reports

theguardian.com:

Hijab enforcement groups are to be set up on the Tehran metro and women not wearing the hijab will be refused entry, in effect banning some women from work, Iranian state TV has reported.

The move appears to be part of a pattern of government efforts to force Iranian public bodies to take greater responsibility for enforcing the hijab. Many Iranian women, especially in urban centres, have refused to comply with the hijab rules, in a sign that the “women, life, freedom” protests that began in September continue in a more individualised form.

The latest threatened clampdown comes as girls in secondary schools in Tehran, Karaj and other cities continue to report poison attacks. At least nine schools were reported to have been attacked on Sunday. According to the Iranian MP Mohammad Hassan Asefari, a government fact-finding committee said the security agencies had been unable to identify the perpetrators, while the ministry of health had yet to determine the nature of the poison being used.

The contrast between the urgency of the efforts to enforce the hijab and the inability of investigators to use CCTV to identify those behind the poison attacks has infuriated opponents of the government.

The Tehran Metro Company had already announced that “in line with the demands of the noble people of Iran on the issue of hijab”, it was launching a verbal reminder project in Tehran and suburban metro stations. But the latest pictures on Iran state TV show metro staff barring women trying to pass through the ticket barrier without a hijab.

Masoud Darshti, the chief executive of Tehran and Suburbs Metro Operation Company, had announced the establishment of a chastity and hijab headquarters to issue reminders. He said his staff would be