Women’s bicycling in public has been declared as “unpermissible” and even “unlawful” by edicts of religious scholars in Iran.
The Commander of the State Security Force of Isfahan (central Iran) added, “According to article 638 of the Islamic Punishment Law, (women’s bicycling) hurts the public conscience and can be legally dealt with. Therefore, women’s bicycling in public is banned.”
Ali Khamenei, the mullahs’ supreme leader, has declared a ban on women’s bicycling in public, but Iranian women have continued to cycle, and even buy their own bikes and participate in Asian tournaments.
