عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Shuts Down Insurance Company for Violating Mandatory Hijab Rules

The staff of the "Azki" private insurance company that was closed by the Iranian authorities due to the employees' non-compliance with the hijab. (social media)
The staff of the "Azki" private insurance company that was closed by the Iranian authorities due to the employees' non-compliance with the hijab. (social media)
TT
TT

Iran Shuts Down Insurance Company for Violating Mandatory Hijab Rules

The staff of the "Azki" private insurance company that was closed by the Iranian authorities due to the employees' non-compliance with the hijab. (social media)
The staff of the "Azki" private insurance company that was closed by the Iranian authorities due to the employees' non-compliance with the hijab. (social media)

Iranian authorities have ordered the suspension of operations of an insurance company, Azki.com, due to female employees not abiding by the mandatory hijab, said Iranian state media.

Didehban news website reported that Azki.com was informed by the Central Insurance of Iran that its license was revoked, and its operations were suspended due to female employees being photographed without the hijab.

Didehban attributed this decision to a report published by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency demanding sanctioning of the company.

IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency cited an official from the Central Insurance of Iran as saying that the company’s case will soon be referred to the judicial body in order to issue a sentence against it.

Moreover, Iranian authorities have shut down an office of e-commerce company, Digikala, after it published images showing Digikala's female employees without their mandatory hijabs.

Last week, Iranian authorities banned a film festival that put out a publicity poster featuring an actress who was not wearing a hijab headscarf. A poster for the upcoming short film festival showed Iranian actress Susan Taslimi in a film in 1982.

The Iranian police announced earlier this month that its “morality police” are to resume their street patrols to enforce the dress code of women and men, especially wearing the hijab among females.

The death of Mahsa Amini after she was detained by Iran's morality police has sparked angry protests in Iran. More than 500 people have been killed and roughly 20,000 people had been arrested during the authority crackdown on the protests. Around 70 members of the Basij forces and the police were killed in clashes with the protesters.

Following the protests, women can be seen walking without a headscarf in Tehran and major cities without being subject to a warning by the police.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
TT
TT

US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)

Georgia's president called for protests on Monday following a disputed parliamentary election, and the United States and the European Union urged a full investigation into reports of violations in the voting.
The results, with almost all precincts counted, were a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast Saturday's election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe, said Reuters.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Sunday they had registered incidents of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and ballot-stuffing that could have affected the outcome, but they stopped short of saying the election was rigged.
President Salome Zourabichvili urged people to take to the streets to protest against the results of the ballot, which the electoral commission said the ruling party had won.
In an address on Sunday, she referred to the result as a "Russian special operation". She did not clarify what she meant by the term.
The ruling Georgian Dream party, of which Zourabichvili is a fierce critic, clinched nearly 54% of the vote, the commission said, as opposition parties contested the outcome and vote monitors reported significant violations.
Georgian media cited Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as saying on Monday that the opposition was attempting to topple the "constitutional order" and that his government remained committed to European integration.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States joined calls from observers for a full probe.
"Going forward, we encourage Georgia's political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together," Blinken said in a statement.
Earlier, the European Union urged Georgia to swiftly and transparently investigate the alleged irregularities in the vote.
"The EU recalls that any legislation that undermines the fundamental rights and freedoms of Georgian citizens and runs counter to the values and principles upon which the EU is founded, must be repealed," the European Commission said in a joint statement with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
President Zourabichvili, a former Georgian Dream ally who won the 2018 presidential vote as an independent, urged Georgians to protest in the center of the capital Tbilisi on Monday evening, to show the world "that we do not recognize these elections".
For years, Georgia was one of the most pro-Western countries to emerge from the Soviet Union, with polls showing many Georgians disliking Russia for its support of two breakaway regions of their country.
Russia defeated Georgia in their brief war over the rebel province of South Ossetia in 2008.
The election result poses a challenge to the EU's ambition to expand by bringing in more former Soviet states.
Moldova earlier this month narrowly approved adding a clause to the constitution defining EU accession as a goal. Moldovan officials said Russia meddled in the election, a claim denied by Moscow.