May 23, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

TEHRAN: A top Iranian customs official has called for imports of ties to be banned because they are “against Iranian culture,” the Fars news agency reported on Thursday, amid a crackdown on unIslamic dress.

“Imports of some apparel are not banned but serious action should be taken to stop the import of ties which contradict the nature of Iranian culture,” state customs bureau deputy head Asghar Hamidi was quoted as saying.

“We need to change the country’s import regulations to this end,” said Hamidi, who is also head of a state plan for the “development of culture, chastity and the veil.”

The wearing of ties was promoted under the deposed US-backed Shah. But has been banned in government offices since the 1979 Islamic revolution as a sign of westernisation.

Members of Iran’s Basij militia on occasion even went out on to the streets armed with scissors to snip off the offending accessory in the post-revolution period.—AFP