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Tehran police have closed Turkish Airlines’ office in the capital of Iran after female employees of the airline refused to follow the wearing scarf rule.
As per the media, Tehran police officers visited the Turkish Airlines office on Monday and issued a first warning for not adhering to the scarf rule.
However, the employees in the Airline’s Tehran office, who are Iranian citizens, allegedly caused trouble for the police officers, forcing them to shut down the office.
Tasnim News Agency in Tehran reported that the police closed the office due to the employees’ behavior. The Turkish Airlines office has been permitted to reopen on Wednesday and can resume its operations as usual, although the police have not confirmed this.
READ MORE: Reformist Massoud Pezeshkian elected Iran’s new president, beating hardline rival Saeed Jalili
Media reports also stated that the police do not typically shut down business centers for not following the hijab rule; they issue a warning first. However, Turkish Airlines has not commented on the entire incident.
It is noteworthy that mass protests erupted in response to the arrest and death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini over the hijab issue. Although the protests have subsided, some Iranian women insist on their right to choose whether to wear the scarf, posing a challenge to the government.
In recent years, Iranian authorities have shut down hundreds of business centers that quietly allowed their female employees not to wear the hijab.
The incident at the Turkish Airlines office in Tehran occurred on the same day that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated the newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian.
According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Tehran Prosecutor Ali Salehi stated that no orders or legal actions were taken to close the Turkish Airlines office.
Iran and Turkey maintain good relations, with bilateral trade between the two countries amounting to $5.4 billion in 2023. Turkey is a popular tourist destination for Iranian tourists, with 2.5 million Iranians visiting Turkey each year.
Additionally, Turkish Airlines is a preferred service for Iranian citizens, providing the fastest routes to the USA and Canada.
