Iran's judiciary says women will be punished for violating Islamic dress code: Report

In this file photo, a protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic's morality police. Credit: AFP Photo

Women violating the Islamic dress code will be punished, Iran's Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency, reaffirming the law after months of unrest that brought a deadly security crackdown.

"Removing one's hijab is equivalent to showing enmity to the Islamic Republic and its values. People who engage in such an abnormal act will be punished," Ejei said.

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"With the help of the judiciary and executive, authorities will use all available means to deal with the people who cooperate with the enemy and commit this sin that harms public order."

The Sept. 16 death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody for flouting the dress code triggered nationwide protests that posed one of the toughest challenges to theocratic since its establishment in 1979.

An increasingly severe crackdown by security forces has largely stifled the unrest in recent weeks.