The president of the Iranian Athletics Federation resigned on Sunday due to the participation of women who did not wear the mandatory veil in a sports event, an official media outlet announced. “Hashem Siami resigned due to the controversies surrounding a resistance race competition organized in Shiraz,” a major city in southern Iran, said Irna agency. According to images broadcast on Iranian media, some women participated in the race on Friday without wearing the veil. This incident comes after the implementation in mid-April of a new police plan to tighten control over the wearing of the veil by women, which has been mandatory since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The prosecutor of Fars province, where Shiraz is located, announced on Sunday that he would summon the organizers of the event to receive “explanations.” Siami told Irna that his federation was not the organizer of the competition and that the women who did not wear the veil were not part of his organization’s group of athletes. In recent months, more and more women have appeared without the veil in public places, especially following the protest movement triggered after the death of Mahsa Amini while in detention in September for violating the strict dress code.
At least four famous actresses were questioned by authorities last week after appearing in public in Tehran without the mandatory veil. On April 16, authorities indicated that more than 150 commercial establishments had been closed within 24 hours for not complying with the obligation of female employees to wear the veil. In Shiraz, police had arrested several young women who had participated with their heads uncovered in a skateboarding event more than a year ago, as well as organizers.