The Mojhaye Khoroushan Water Park is on the outskirts of Mashhad city in north-eastern Iran. Photo: Foursquare
The Mojhaye Khoroushan Water Park is on the outskirts of Mashhad city in north-eastern Iran. Photo: Foursquare
The Mojhaye Khoroushan Water Park is on the outskirts of Mashhad city in north-eastern Iran. Photo: Foursquare
The Mojhaye Khoroushan Water Park is on the outskirts of Mashhad city in north-eastern Iran. Photo: Foursquare

Iranian water park closed after women allowed in without hijab


Holly Johnston
  • English
  • Arabic

Iranian authorities have closed down a water park after women were admitted to the park without the mandatory hijab, local media reported on Monday.

The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park was closed on Sunday evening, Fars news agency reported, quoting manager Mohammad Babaei. It said customers were "ignoring chastity and hijab" rules.

The closure of the park, one of the largest in the world, has left 1,000 employees facing an uncertain future, Mr Babaei said.

Scores of businesses have been closed in recent months as Tehran clamps down further on women's freedom, already vastly curtailed under the decades-long rule of the regime.

Book shops, cafes and clothing stores have been forced to shut after orders from authorities, who have threatened action against businesses serving women without the hijab required since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Women who have chosen to shun the hijab have also been barred from universities and dismissed from their jobs.

The latest closure comes just a week before the first anniversary of the largest anti-regime protests in years, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.

The young Kurdish woman was detained for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely. Relatives said she was beaten to death by morality police officers.

Demonstrations erupted across Iran after her funeral, spreading to every province and prompting a bloody crackdown from Tehran, in which more than 500 people died.

Although many women chose to defy the strict dress code before last year's protests, Tehran's response to the movement has emboldened many more to ignore the rules and demonstrate their anger.

Social media users continue to post images and videos of women without the hijab walking on the streets, with many being confronted by morality police and supporters of the conservative regime.

Tehran metro has also barred women without a hijab from boarding trains, while security cameras have been set up on roads to identify women without the headscarf in their cars.

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UAE tour of Zimbabwe

All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Schedule for Asia Cup

Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)

Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)

Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)

Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four

Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai) 

Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)

Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)

Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)

Sept 28: Final (Dubai)

Various Artists 
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
​​​​​​​

Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

The biog

Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha

Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Holiday destination: Sri Lanka

First car: VW Golf

Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters

Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars

Updated: September 05, 2023, 5:54 AM`