Iranian bank fires manager for serving an unveiled woman

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian bank manager who served an unveiled woman has been fired, local media reported on Sunday, as demonstrations triggered by the mandatory head covering rule shake the Islamic Republic.

Women in the country of more than 80 million people are required to cover their heads, necks and hair, a law enforced by the country’s morality police.

The September 16 death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, for allegedly breaching the dress code rules, sparked nationwide demonstrations which authorities call “riots.”

Mehr news agency reported that the bank manager in Qom province, near the capital Tehran, “had provided bank services on Thursday to an unveiled woman.”

As a result, he was “removed from his position by order of the governor,” Mehr quoted deputy governor Ahmad Hajizadeh as saying.

Mehr said video footage of the unveiled woman “elicited a lot of reaction on social media.”

In Iran, the manager of a bank was fired for providing services to a woman without a hijab.#MahsaAmini #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/fCy7MXu756

— ۱۴،۱۵،۱۶=پارگی ج.ا (Fan account )just- Saran????‍♀️ (@leesaranho) November 27, 2022

In Iran most banks are state-controlled and Hajizadeh said it is the responsibility of managers in such institutions to implement the hijab law.

Dozens of people, mainly protesters but also members of the security forces, have been killed during the demonstrations, which Iran says are encouraged by its Western “enemies.”

Pictures of unveiled women celebrating Iran's World Cup win were released by state media yesterday and made the front pages of several papers this morning.

Meanwhile, a bank manager in Qom was sacked today for not refusing to provide services to an unveiled woman. https://t.co/t9s0p9fuFf

— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) November 26, 2022

The hijab became mandatory four years after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the US-backed monarchy and established the Islamic Republic.

Later, with changing clothing norms, it became commonplace to see women in tight jeans and loose, colorful headscarves.

But in July this year, ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi called for the mobilization of “all state institutions to enforce the headscarf law.”

Many women continued to bend the rules, however.