TEHRAN, 5 September 2004 — Around 150 Iranian women demonstrated in front of the French Embassy in Tehran yesterday protesting the ban on the Islamic head scarf in French state schools. The protesters, dressed head to toe in black chadors, displayed banners reading: “Freedom is now a myth in France,” and: “Isn’t it time for another French revolution?”
Another placard urged French President Jacques Chirac to read the principles of his country’s constitution, charging that liberty, democracy and human rights were now under threat. The demonstrators made no reference to the kidnapping of two French newsmen in Iraq by militants demanding the lifting of the ban.
France’s academic year got off to a quiet start Thursday as the controversial ban on the head scarf and other conspicuous religious insignia went into effect. Every woman in Iran, regardless of her nationality or religion, is obliged to observe the Islamic dress code and cover their hair or face prosecution.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami cabled his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday to condemn the school hostage blood bath in the southern republic of North Ossetia but one conservative daily here saw justice in the militant cause.
