Iranian officials have expanded the ban on dogs who go to a gang of cities across the country, citing public order and health and safety problems.
The ban – which reflects a 2019 police order which prohibited the capital of the capital, Tehran – was extended to at least 18 other cities last week. Dog transport in vehicles has also been prohibited.
The property of dogs has been disapproved of Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, with dogs considered to be “unclean” by the authorities and a legacy of Western cultural influence.
But despite the efforts to discourage it, the property of dogs increases, in particular among young people, and it is considered a form of rebellion against the restrictive Iranian regime.
Cities such as Isfahan and Kerman have brought prohibitions in recent days, according to the AFP news agency.
An official in the west of the city of Ilam, where a ban was implemented on Sunday, said that “legal action” would be taken against people who have violated the new rules, according to local media.
However, the application of restrictions in the past has been uneven, while many dog owners continue to walk their dogs in Public in Tehran and other parts of Iran.
There is no national law that squarely prohibits dog ownership, but prosecutors often emit local restrictions that are applied by the police.
“Dog walking is a threat to public health, peace and comfort,” said Abbas Najafi, a prosecutor of the western city of Hamedan, to the Iran State Journal.
The owners were sometimes arrested and the dogs confiscated to have entered in public.
Many have taken the promenade of their dogs in isolated areas at night or leading them to escape detection.
Politicians of the Islamic regime consider the possession of pets as non -Islamic. Many religious scholars consider the caresses of dogs or come into contact with their saliva as “najis” or ritually unclean.
The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, previously described the property of dogs – other than for breeding, hunting and security – as “reprehensible”.
In 2021, 75 legislators condemned the property of dogs as a “destructive social problem” which could “gradually change the Iranian and Islamic lifestyle”.
The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Councils have prohibited advertisements for pets or pets related to pets in 2010 – and in 2014, there was a trip to Parliament to amend and even flog dog walkers, although the bill was not adopted.
After the recent repression, criticism argues that the police should focus on public security at a time of increasing concern concerning violent crimes, rather than targeting dog owners and restricting personal freedoms.
The ownership of dogs, defying compulsory laws of the Hijab of Iran, participation in underground parties and drinking alcohol have long been forms of silent rebellion against the theocratic regime of Iran.
