April 2 (UPI) — Authorities in Iran have arrested two women at a store in the city of Shandiz after a man was seen throwing yogurt at them Thursday, officials said.
Iran’s judiciary said in a statement published by its media arm, the Mizan News Agency, that the two women were arrested on the charge of “committing a forbidden act” by not wearing hijabs.
Iranian officials also criticized the man’s “unconventional treatment” of the women, arresting him and charging him with “practical insult and disturbance of order.”
“The necessary judicial orders were issued in this regard and these people were arrested,” the statement reads.
The Mizan News Agency also released an image taken from surveillance footage at the store, in which one of the women is seen unveiled with her hair covered in yogurt. Another woman seen in the image is veiled.
“Chastity and hijab are a religious necessity. Hijab is immunity, for the individual and society,” President Ebrahim Raisi said in a statement on Twitter from the Iranian government.
“We are faced with a legal obligation, compliance with the law is agreed upon by all. Today, the issue of hijab is a legal issue and all members of our society should be committed to the issue of chastity and hijab, as they have been committed so far.”
The news comes as Iranians across the Muslim country continue to protest the country’s hardline government after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Amini died in the custody of the country’s morality police after she was arrested for not properly wearing her hijab, sparking widespread protests that some have called a “revolution.”
