Iran Cracks Down On Female Beauty Salons Over New Restrictions

Several female hairdressers have been arrested and others have been summoned in Iran’s over a new set of restrictions on activities of women’s beauty salons.

According to information received by Iran International, in the northeastern city of Mashhad Women Hairdressers Union has recently announced a ban on a series of activities, including waxing of private parts, tattoos and piercing, injecting Botox and other cosmetic subdermal fillers, nail enhancements and eyelash extensions as well as “unconventional” dress code and playing western music at the salons.

A similar notification for the new bans has also been sent to female hairdressers in several other provinces of the country, threatening them with legal action if they do not comply.

In 2018, Iran also arrested dozens of people, including Instagram models and beauty salon owners, for posting photos online, and in 2007, police in Tehran closed dozens of barbershops and hairdressers in a fortnight as part of its crackdown aimed at enforcing Islamic dress codes among young Iranians.

Mashhad is home to numerous hardliner clerics who are against women’s presence in male dominated venues. Firebrand representative of the Supreme Leader in the city, Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda has been banning concerts and cultural events for years.

Alamolhoda, who is father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi, has time and again urged people to reproach women with poorly-fitting hijab and admonish them, saying women with loose-fitting hijab should not feel secure in public.