The president of the Athletics Federation of Iran, Hashem Siami, has resigned after a marathon race was held in the city of Shiraz on Friday in which some of the participants and attendees did not wear the mandatory Islamic veil.
The controversy generated by the most conservative sectors has caused Siami to present his resignation to the Minister of Sports and Youth, Hamid Sajjadi. Siami is considered to be linked to the Revolutionary Guard, the elite ideological and military corps of the Islamic Republic, reports Radio Farda.
Official media such as the Fars news agency have reported Siami’s resignation, which reportedly took place on Saturday. On Friday it was the prosecutor of Fars province, Mustafa Bahraini, who had announced the opening of an investigation and the summoning of sports officials.
Following his resignation, Minister Sajjadi »ordered immediate action to be taken on the details and factors involved in what happened in the Fars endurance competitions».
The Shiraz government has claimed that the women’s and men’s races took place in different locations, that the images posted on social media are »arbitrary» and that the police intervened »immediately».
The veil is compulsory for women in Iran and its rejection has become a gesture of civil disobedience that connects with the protests unleashed in September after the death of the young Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini in Tehran after being arrested for not wearing the Islamic veil properly.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
