Iran police have banned the display of women's underwear in shop windows across the Islamic republic, Tehran dailies said on Wednesday.
"There have been reports of the use of inappropriate and shocking mannequins in shop windows in a bid to draw in customers, which has been the source of public dissatisfaction," the Arman newspaper quoted a police statement as saying.
The statement said it was an offence to "display women's underwear in shop windows."
The police also took issue with displays of "Western brands of clothing, immoral photographs or ties and bow-ties, and the use of manneqins with a revealing body shape or with the head and face on show without a headscarf."
The statement also barred male shop assistants from selling women's lingerie but said that it was acceptable for underwear to be displayed on mannequins inside women-only shops.
Under the strict dress code adopted after the 1979 Islamic revolution, women are required to wear the headscarf in all public places and the Western necktie is outlawed.
In recent years, however, the tie has made a comeback, particularly among the wealthy in north Tehran, and women have increasingly worn their headscarves pushed far back on their heads exposing their hair.
AFP