The Iranian judiciary on December 6 said it had arrested two organizers of a marathon after some women competed in the event without wearing the mandatory hijab, the Islamic headscarf that covers the head and neck.
"Despite previous warnings regarding the need to comply with the country's current laws and regulations, as well as religious, customary, and professional principles...the event was held in a way that violated public decency," the judiciary's Mizan news outlet quoted the local prosecutor’s office as saying.
"Considering the violations that occurred and based on the laws and regulations, a criminal case has been filed against the officials and agents organizing this event," the report added.
SEE ALSO: Iran's Streets 'Transformed' As More Women Shun The Mandatory HijabMizan said that "two of the main organizers of the competition were arrested on warrants."
"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 added.
The report did not make clear if the two had been jailed, although it said “judicial supervision” had been ordered for them. It was also not immediately clear how many women defied the hijab laws.
The marathon was held a day earlier on the southwestern Iranian island of Kish, attracting some 5,000 participants in separate men’s and women’s races.
Kish is in a free-trade zone in the Persian Gulf. In an effort to attract tourists to its shopping areas and beaches, head-covering laws are often less strictly enforced.
Under Iranian law, wearing of the hijab has been mandatory since soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with violators subject to lengthy prison terms, fines, and travel bans. The laws are often enforced by the country's so-called morality police.
Death Of Mahsa Amini
However, in recent years, a growing number of women and girls have stopped covering up in public, especially in large cities, in direct defiance of the conservative Islamic country’s clerical rulers.
A key turning point came in 2022, following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for violating the hijab law, prompting women-led antiestablishment protests that rocked the country.
Hard-line lawmakers reacted by doubling-down with an enhanced Hijab and Chastity Law. But wary of provoking unrest, Iran's Supreme National Security Council later suspended implementation of the harshest elements of the law.
SEE ALSO: Iran Turns To Neighbors For Help As Water Crisis IntensifiesA member of Iran’s Expediency Council, which serves as an advisory body to the country's supreme leader, said enhanced hijab laws were unenforceable.
Mohammad Reza Bahonar in October told reporters that there was essentially “no compulsory hijab law in force,” triggering an uproar among hard-liners but reflecting the situation on the ground in most major cities.
The issue has created a split among the hard-liners and more moderate lawmakers. President Masud Pezeshkian -- considered by many to be a moderate -- has refused to ratify a bill passed in parliament that would impose stricter penalties on women who ignore the dress code.