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Regular officers and members of the "morality police" raided 87 cafes and restaurants in a single district of the capital Tehran on Saturday and arrested women for flouting the Islamic dress code, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

"These places were shut for not following Islamic values, providing hookah to women, and lacking proper licenses," said Tehran police official Alireza Mehrabi, according to ISNA. Women are not allowed to smoke hookah, water pipes, in public.

Mehrabi said the raid came as part of a plan to provide "neighbourhood-oriented" security, and would continue in other parts of Tehran.

Coffee shop culture has flourished in Iran in recent years, offering wireless Internet, snacks, hot drinks, and a place to hang out for Iranian youth in a country where there are no bars or Western chain restaurants or cafes.

But that trend has been criticized by conservative Iranians who consider it a cultural imposition from the West and incompatible with Islamic values.

The government periodically cracks down on behaviour it considers un-Islamic, including mingling between the sexes outside of marriage.

In 2007, Tehran police closed down 24 Internet cafes and other coffee shops in as many hours, detaining 23 people.

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Sun May 19 10:21:32 SAST 2013 ::

Jul 16, 2012

Shredder

"morality police" ???

This is sick. You can't enforce people to follow a religion. You can tell them about it and they will make their decision to follow it or not. After all, it is their souls and their destiny of heaven or hell.
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Jul 16, 2012

Flemza

I like these Iranians , how can I get there citizenship I adour there discipline , Internet Cafe & all that western influence is a distruction to world cultures which has had high morals upto so far
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