THIS is the shocking moment a woman is dragged by her ankles and beaten in front of a crowd “because she was dancing and not wearing a hijab”.
In the disturbing video footage, she can be seen standing in the central reservation of a busy road in Rasht, Iran, as she’s jeered by men.
It appears the woman is in some kind of stand-off with a crowd of people, then some men approach her.
One grabs her around the head and forces her to the ground before taking hold of her ankles and dragging her over the tarmac.
His brutal actions were met with raucous cheers from the crowd.
The woman is released and gets to her feet but as she approaches one of the attackers, he appears to hit her in the face and knock her over again.
She can be heard shrieking in the video, as men in the crowd jeer and laugh.
As she walks away, the woman appears distressed and she backs into oncoming cars on the busy road.
Iranian journalist and activist Msih Alinejad claims to be the woman in the video and says she was attacked because she was dancing and not wearing a hijab.
A strict Islamic dress code has been in place in Iran since the 1979 revolution.
Under the code, women above the age of 13 must cover themselves from head to tow and steer clear of tight fitting clothing.
Breaking these rules can result in fines of up to 500,000 rials (£17) and up to two months in prison.
In 2013, President Hassan Rouhani came into power and promised a more moderate stance on the dress code.
STRICT DRESS CODE
He has said it is not the police’s responsibility to enforce such religious rules, such as women being forced to cover their hair.
But in April 2016, officials said 7,000 undercover morality police reported on “bad hijab”, a term meaning a woman in un-Islamic dress.
Although figures are rarely publicised, Tehran’s traffic police said in 2015 they dealt with 40,000 cases of bad hijab in cars, where women often let their headscarves drop down to their necks.
In these cases the punishment is usually a fine and temporary impounding of the vehicle.
Tensions in the region have been rising since the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed punishing economic sanctions on Tehran.
The Americans have accused Iran of using limpet mines to target the tankers, pointing to video footage said to show Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.
In recent weeks, the US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and other military assets to the region in what the military says is defensive posturing aimed at Iranian deterrence.
New photos released by the Pentagon appear to prove Iran’s ruthless Revolutionary Guard were behind the bomb attacks on two oil tankers in the Middle East.
Jeremy Hunt has warned of the “great risk” of a drift to war with Iran following the attacks last week in the Gulf on two oil tankers.
Source » thesun