Inside of an Iranian bank
An Iranian banking official says enforcing newly ordered strict dress code – or hijab – restrictions on clients will result in banks losing customers.
Mohammad Reza Jamshidi, the secretary of the Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions, said on Tuesday that “when bank branches want to force out customers who have not observed the desired form of hijab, or do not allow them to enter,” they are bound to lose clients. “They will not even open an account there,” he said.
He added that these new conditions and restrictions have been ordered just a few days ago so “we should wait to see the consequences.”
These issues have caused some people not to accept the position of the manager of the branch and opt to become the deputy head as the branch manager will be accountable for all the responsibilities.
In the past few weeks, authorities have launched an extensive campaign against women they call ‘bad-hijab’. In addition to crackdowns by the ‘morality police’ on streets, some officials have ordered extra measures, including to government offices, banks, and public transportation authorities to withhold service to ‘bad-hijab’ women.
In the jargon of religious and political hardliners women who are unwilling to wear the hijab and display their displeasure by wearing small and colorful headscarves with tight-fitting, short dresses are called ‘bad-hijab’ ones.
Meanwhile, social media posts from Iran indicate many women left home Tuesday without hijab in response to calls from activists to defy the government’s forced dress code.