An Iranian bank manager who served an unveiled woman had been fired, as protests shook the Islamic nation in response to the mandatory head covering rule, news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported citing local media reports.
Women in the country of more than 80 million people are compelled to cover their heads, necks, and hair, according to legislation enforced by the morality police.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died in morality police detention on September 16 for allegedly violating dress code restrictions, sparking countrywide protests that officials call “riots”.
According to Mehr news agency, a bank manager in Qom province, near Tehran, “offered bank services to an unveiled woman on Thursday”.
As a result, he was “removed from his job by order of the governor,” according to Mehr, citing deputy governor Ahmad Hajizadeh.
The video of the uncovered woman “elicited a lot of reaction on social media,” Mehr said.
Most banks in Iran are state-owned, according to Hajizadeh, and it is the obligation of management in such organisations to enforce the hijab rule.
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During the protests, dozens of people have been slain, mostly protestors but also members of the security forces, which Iran claims are pushed by its Western “enemies”.
Four years after the 1979 revolution that deposed the US-backed monarchy and established the Islamic Republic, the headscarf became mandatory.
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With changing clothing norms, women in tight jeans and loose, colourful headscarves became widespread.
However, in July of this year, ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi called on “all governmental institutions to execute the headscarf law”.
However, many women continued to break the regulations.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
