barfly
08-12-03, 14:59
TEHRAN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Police have shut down four of the
Iranian capital's Western-style fast-food restaurants, popular
with youngsters as meeting places to mingle with the opposite
sex, in an apparent crackdown on un-Islamic behaviour.
Restaurant owners said the closures were ordered 12 days ago
by a branch of the police notorious for closing down shops and
eating places deemed to have contravened the Islamic Republic's
strict moral code.
"They closed the biggest fast-food places in Tehran in one
day, without giving a reason," one owner, who declined to be
named, told Reuters on Thursday. "We've had to fire all our
workers because we don't know when we'll be allowed to reopen."
Bored teenagers, officially prohibited from socialising with
unrelated members of the opposite sex, pack into brightly lit
eateries and coffee shops in the evenings and at weekends to
subtly flirt over a burger or a coke.
Young women, in particular, have incurred the wrath of
hardline authorities by wearing make-up, short coats and
colourful scarves pushed back to expose as much hair as possible
instead of the head-to-toe black chadors deemed necessary by the
country's ruling clerics to protect a woman's modesty.
Another owner told the reformist Tosea newspaper that police
said his restaurant -- located, like the other three, in
upmarket northern Tehran -- was shut for "not observing the
Islamic code of behaviour".
"If (the police) have a problem with how the youth dress or
behave they should adopt a cultural solution for the problem,"
Tosea quoted him as saying.
Tehran police officials could not be reached for comment.
Tired of such costly closures, some restaurants in Tehran
have begun to employ soccer-style penalties for diners who could
jeopardise their business.
Girls deemed to be improperly dressed or men flirting too
openly with the opposite sex may receive a "yellow card" on
their table warning them to modify their dress or behaviour.
Repeat offenders receive a "red card", and are asked to
leave at once.
Psychologists said shutting restaurants would have the
opposite effect to that intended.
"By closing such places they are channelling that behaviour
indoors where anything could happen. You cannot suppress young
people's instincts," one psychologist, who asked not to be
named, told Reuters.
Zo die onzedelijkheden ook weer uit de wereld! :duim:
Iranian capital's Western-style fast-food restaurants, popular
with youngsters as meeting places to mingle with the opposite
sex, in an apparent crackdown on un-Islamic behaviour.
Restaurant owners said the closures were ordered 12 days ago
by a branch of the police notorious for closing down shops and
eating places deemed to have contravened the Islamic Republic's
strict moral code.
"They closed the biggest fast-food places in Tehran in one
day, without giving a reason," one owner, who declined to be
named, told Reuters on Thursday. "We've had to fire all our
workers because we don't know when we'll be allowed to reopen."
Bored teenagers, officially prohibited from socialising with
unrelated members of the opposite sex, pack into brightly lit
eateries and coffee shops in the evenings and at weekends to
subtly flirt over a burger or a coke.
Young women, in particular, have incurred the wrath of
hardline authorities by wearing make-up, short coats and
colourful scarves pushed back to expose as much hair as possible
instead of the head-to-toe black chadors deemed necessary by the
country's ruling clerics to protect a woman's modesty.
Another owner told the reformist Tosea newspaper that police
said his restaurant -- located, like the other three, in
upmarket northern Tehran -- was shut for "not observing the
Islamic code of behaviour".
"If (the police) have a problem with how the youth dress or
behave they should adopt a cultural solution for the problem,"
Tosea quoted him as saying.
Tehran police officials could not be reached for comment.
Tired of such costly closures, some restaurants in Tehran
have begun to employ soccer-style penalties for diners who could
jeopardise their business.
Girls deemed to be improperly dressed or men flirting too
openly with the opposite sex may receive a "yellow card" on
their table warning them to modify their dress or behaviour.
Repeat offenders receive a "red card", and are asked to
leave at once.
Psychologists said shutting restaurants would have the
opposite effect to that intended.
"By closing such places they are channelling that behaviour
indoors where anything could happen. You cannot suppress young
people's instincts," one psychologist, who asked not to be
named, told Reuters.
Zo die onzedelijkheden ook weer uit de wereld! :duim: