Iran to crackdown on 'inappropriately' dressed women

TEHRAN: Iran's judiciary is to launch a fresh clampdown on women it deems are inappropriately dressed and 'spreading prostitution,' the state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

"The ones who spread prostitution and intentionally seek to disturb social and moral security by inappropriate clothing and behaviour will be firmly confronted," Tehran's hardline prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi said.

"It has been noticed that some people with an outrageous appearance in public hurt religious feelings and beliefs," he said, adding the crackdown would start on March 6 and continue for a month.

Mortazavi said the crackdown would also target what he described as 'street women who get into cars as passengers and rob or extort the drivers.'

Every post-pubescent woman is required to cover her hair and body in public in Iran. Crackdowns are common in summer when many women defy the Islamic dress code by wearing short bright coats, flimsy headscarves and capri pants.