Fredrik Dahl has been reporting for Reuters from Iran since March 2007. A native of Sweden, he has also worked in Helsinki, Brussels, Sarajevo, Belgrade and London during 20 years with Reuters. In the following story, he recounts how he watched Iranian police detain a woman deemed to be violating the Islamic dress code.
By Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Wearing a brightly coloured headscarfand high-heeled boots, the woman refused to be bundled into thepolice van without a fight.
Protesting loudly and even trying to escape, her standoffwith Iranian police cracking down on women violating theIslamic dress code lasted several minutes.
But the outcome of the drama shortly after dusk on a coldwinter's day on Tehran's most famous boulevard was never indoubt.
Two female police officers in head-to-toe black chadorspushed her into the white vehicle which then drove off into thebustle of tree-lined Vali-ye Asr Avenue.
"Hijab problem," one male onlooker said, referring to theclothes women must wear in Iran to cover their hair anddisguise the shape of their bodies to conform with Iran'sIslamic laws.
Based in Tehran for the past year, I have often writtenabout police detaining women who challenge the dress codes thathave been more strictly enforced under President MahmoudAhmadinejad.
But this was the first time I saw it happening.
To judge by the passers-by who stopped in the lamplight onthe snowy pavement, or the people peeping out through thewindows of the neighbourhood grocery store where I was buyingmilk, my curiosity was shared.
The dark-haired woman, who appeared to be in her 30s,argued in a high-pitched voice with a burly, bearded malepolice officer towering over her in his green uniform.
When his female colleague put a hand on the woman'sshoulder to lead her into the van, she angrily pushed it awayand shouted. Then suddenly she turned and tried to run away.
She did not get far. The two female officers grabbed herand shoved her into the police vehicle. The door was slammedshut and the van disappeared into Tehran's evening rush hour.
TOO WESTERN
"Not good," a fellow shopper told me in halting English,shaking his head in disapproval at the police action.
Thousands of women have been hauled in or warned by policein the 10 months since the authorities launched one of thestrictest campaigns in recent years.
In addition to the annual summer crackdown, when swelteringheat prompts some women to shed clothing, police in Decemberannounced a drive against winter fashions seen as immodest,such as tight trousers tucked into long boots.
Iran's clerical leaders say Islamic attire helps protectwomen against the sex symbol status they have in the West.
But young women in wealthier urban areas often defy therestrictions by wearing tight clothing and colourfulheadscarves that barely cover their hair. The codes are lesscommonly flouted in poor suburbs and rural regions.
Even men with spiked haircuts deemed too "Western" arebeing targeted by the authorities in the latest clampdown.
One Iranian woman in her early 40s told me later thecampaign had persuaded her to dress more conservatively, butyounger women "are not scared anymore".
Those found dressing inappropriately may be warned or, ifthey are repeat offenders, can spend the night in a policestation and may also be fined.
The authorities say they are "fighting morally corruptpeople". An opinion poll published by the semi-official FarsNews Agency last year said most Iranians polled supported theway police were dealing with women wearing "bad hijab".
But there was little obvious sign of approval from thesmall audience who watched the incident in Elahiyeh, arelatively well-off suburb in north Tehran.
Then after a few sighs and a bit of muttered discussion,the customers shrugged off the commotion and returned to theirshopping, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
I stepped out into streets blanketed in snow during Iran'scoldest winter in decades, wondering about the woman.
(Editing by Edmund Blair and Sara Ledwith)
