Police in Iran shut down the Turkish Airlines office in the capital of Tehran after female employees there apparently refused to wear the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, in an act of defiance of the country’s law, The Associated Press reported, citing Iranian media.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said police officers went to the Turkish Airlines office in Tehran on Monday to issue what is called a first warning over the “non-observance of hijab” by the company’s employees.
However, the employees — who are Iranian nationals — reportedly “made trouble for the police officers,” prompting the closure. The Tasnim report said police subsequently sealed the office over the employees’ behavior.
According to Tasnim, the Turkish Airlines office will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday and resume business as usual, something that the police did not confirm. The report further said the police would not seal any business due to the non-observance of hijab but issue first warnings.
There was no immediate comment from Turkish Airlines over the incident in Tehran.
News ! Iranian authorities have sealed the office of Turkish Airlines in Tehran for violating the mandatory hijab rules. The incident comes amidst heightened tensions surrounding Iran's mandatory hijab laws.
Source : https://t.co/MWklZKMh9E#airlines pic.twitter.com/wTIu53I4dl
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) July 9, 2024
An open defiance of the headscarf law erupted into mass protests across Iran following the September 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police. While those demonstrations appear largely to have cooled, the choice by some Iranian women to remain uncovered in the street poses a new challenge to the country’s theocracy.