TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities have arrested two organizers of a marathon on Kish Island, the judiciary says, after images emerged of women competing without hijab.
The Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities have faced mounting criticism from ultraconservatives for failing to properly enforce a mandatory headscarf law for women, as fears grow of a surge of Western influence.
Images online of yesterday’s marathon showed a number of runners who were not following the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women, which was enshrined in law in the early 1980s.
“Two of the main organizers of the competition were arrested on warrants,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reports, the day after the marathon took place.
“One of those arrested is an official in the Kish free zone, and the other works for the private company that organized the race,” it adds.
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