The Iranian authorities have expanded the ban on dogs that walk in public in many cities in the country, citing public health and security problems, national media reported.
The ban, which echoes a 2019 police directive which prohibited walking dogs in Tehran, was extended to Ilam City in the West on Sunday, according to information.
At least 17 other cities have introduced similar prohibitions in recent days, including Isfahan at the center and Kerman in the south.
Own and Walking Dogs was a Controversial subject Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, although there has been no law prohibiting the property of dogs.
Many religious scholars, however, plan to caress dogs or get in touch with their saliva najisOr ritually impure, while some officials consider pet dogs as a symbol of Western cultural influence.
Local authorities have periodically introduced prohibitions on walking dogs in public spaces or transporting them to vehicles as part of a wider campaign to discourage their property.
The application of restrictions has been incoherent, as many owners continue to walk their dogs in Tehran and elsewhere through Iran.
On Sunday, the reformist newspaper Etemad cited an official of Ilam City saying that “a legal action will be taken against the offenders”, without developing.
On Saturday, the Iran State Journal said that the latest measures were aimed at “maintaining public order, ensuring security and protection of public health”.
Abbas Najafi, the prosecutor of the western city of Hamedan, was quoted by the Iranian newspaper, saying: “Dog march is a threat to public health, peace and comfort.”
In 2021, 75 legislators condemned ownership of pets as a “destructive social problem”, claiming that he could “gradually change the Iranian and Islamic lifestyle”.
In 2017, the Iranian supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: “Keeping dogs for reasons other than breeding, hunting and guard dogs is considered reprehensible.”
According to the Tasnim news agency, Khamenei added: “If this practice resembles that of non-Muslims, promotes their culture or cause damages and disturbances to neighbors, it is deemed prohibited.”
