April 25, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 07, 1428

TEHRAN: Women in Tehran who repeatedly flout the Islamic dress code in defiance of a police crackdown might be banned from the Iranian capital for up to five years, Tehran’s prosecutor said in comments published on Tuesday.

“Those women who appear in public like decadent models endanger the security and dignity of young men,” prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was quoted as saying by the Etemad newspaper.

In what has become a regular occurrence ahead of the warm summer months, police on Saturday launched a campaign against the growing numbers of young women testing the limits of the law with shorter, brighter and skimpier clothing.

Under shariat, Islamic law, imposed after Iran's 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures and protect their modesty.

Violators can be given lashes, fines and imprisonment.

“If primary punishments are not effective, repeat violators may receive up to five years exile from Tehran,” Mortazavi said.—Reuters