Iran's Kish island, a free trade zone set up to attract foreign businesses, has banned the wearing of ties as an unacceptable symbol of Western culture, the press reported here Sunday.
The tie, which had made something of a comeback in Iran in recent months after being made illegal following the 1979 Islamic revolution, has been forbidden for all state employees, the Abrar-e Eqtesad paper said.
The ban applies to both four-in-hand cravats and the somewhat rarer bowtie, the paper said, citing police officials on the Gulf island.
Men in the well-heeled classes had recently started wearing ties again in the climate of easing social restrictions under President Mohammad Khatami.
Iran has three main free-trade zones -- the islands of Qeshm, Kish and the port of Shahbahr in the Gulf -- designated for offshore banks and industries. Kish has some 20,000 residents.
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
