Iranian 'Moral Police' Enforcing 'Un-Islamic' Dress Code

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa barring online chatting between strangers of the opposite sexes. (AP)

Iranian men better stay away from the jewelry box.

Iran has deployed thousands of "moral police" to patrol the streets of Tehran, cracking down on men wearing necklaces and going after women for wearing loose-fitting head scarves, tightened overcoats and shortened pants that show skin, according to The Guardian.

The Iranian parliament says the garb is "un-Islamic" and the crackdown is aimed at combating "the western cultural invasion."

More than 70,000 trained forces were sent out on the streets in Tehran and other cities to enforce the plan, according to the U.K. paper.

"The enforcement of the moral security plan was requested by the nation and it will be continued until people's concerns are properly addressed," said Ahmadreza Radan, the deputy commander of the Iranian police, according to The Guardian.

The head of the "moral police" is appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said previously he is against this sort of crackdown.

Residents in the Iranian capital say the crackdown is just spreading fear among the population.

"It's not only about clamping down on clothing, but they are spreading panic and fear by sending out this much of police into the streets under the name of this plan, to control the society. It's unbelievable to see a regime that is not only concerned about its own survival, but it goes into your personal life and interferes in that," one resident told the paper.

This latest plan comes after the parliament proposed a bill to criminalize dog ownership, saying it "poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the West."