Iran impounds tens of thousands of cars for women’s mal-veiling

Iran has impounded tens of thousands of cars since March because women inside the vehicles had not properly covered their hair with a headscarf, Tehran’s traffic police said Tuesday.

“Over the past eight months, more than 40,000 cases of bad hijab [headscarf] have been dealt with”, said Brig. Gen. Teymour Hosseini, quoted by the state-run ISNA news agency.

The spokesperson for the traffic police said most of the cases have been referred to the judiciary, and in some cases, women drivers have faced fines or received warnings for their “bad hijab”. This comes after Iranian police warned last month that women could risk having their cars impounded for a week if caught driving without a hijab, or wearing a hijab that shows too much hair.

The Guardian reported that the warning was part of a “wider traffic police crackdown” on all drivers—male and female—and that men could also face violations for driving recklessly and harassing women.

The measure is part of a wider traffic police crackdown that could also see male drivers targeted.

When in public, all women in the Islamic Republic, including foreigners, are required to wear at least a loose scarf covering the hair and neck.

Other violations while driving – not limited to women – include carrying dogs, playing loud music, tinted windows and “harassing girls on the streets”, Hosseini said.

In September, a Tehran court fined two women $260 for violating the dress code by not wearing their hijabs properly on the street.