Iran has closed a large water park in northeastern Mashhad for allowing unveiled women to enter, local media reported Monday.
The closure is part of an intensified crackdown by authorities in recent months on women and businesses that do not respect the Islamic republic’s strict dress code.
“Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed” since Sunday afternoon, its manager Mohammad Babaei was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
The complex, one of the world’s largest indoor water parks at 60,000 square metres, was closed due to people “ignoring the rules of chastity and hijab”, despite having warned visitors, Babaei said.
The park’s 1,000 or so employees fear losing their jobs, he added.
Wearing the veil has been compulsory for all women in Iran since 1983, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
More and more women have been taking to the streets without the veil in major cities since the mass protests sparked in September 2022 by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for allegedly flouting the dress code.
In recent months many shops, cafes and restaurants have been closed, mostly for a few days, for failing to comply with the veil requirement.
