AFP | | Posted by Srilakshmi B
Iranian authorities have banned a film festival that released an advertising poster featuring an actress not wearing a hijab, state media reported.
The ban comes after the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) released a short film festival poster featuring Iranian actress Susan Taslimi in the 1982 film “The Death of Yazdgerd.”
“The Minister of Culture has personally issued an order to ban the 13th edition of the ISFA Film Festival for using a photo of a woman not wearing a hijab in a poster in violation of the law,” state news agency IRNA reported late Saturday.
It was decided to hold the festival in September.
The hijab, covering the head and neck, has been compulsory for women in Iran since 1983, shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
However, Iranian women have defied the strict dress code since mass protests began last September calling for an end to the mandatory hijab.
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating a strict Islamic dress code, sparked months of protests.
Earlier this month, police said they had resumed patrolling to catch a growing number of women flouting the law.
The Judiciary’s Mizan Online website said late on Saturday that it is taking legal action against major e-commerce company Digikala over images of female employees not wearing headscarves.
On Wednesday, a Tehran court sentenced leading actress Afsan Bayeghan to a suspended two-year prison term for failing to wear a hijab at a public event.
Bayeghan was ordered to make weekly visits to a psychiatric center “for the treatment of anti-familial personality disorder” and submit a health certificate after her treatment, Fars news agency reported.