Iranian officials recently banned unaccompanied women from entering traditional restaurants, which serve Hooka and the traditional Iranian dish, Dizi. The officials  did not provide  an explanation for this draconian  measure.

One Iranian online activist, Majid Tavakoli, wrote the following on his Facebook:

“I was walking on the street [in Tehran] when I saw a big sign on the entrance of a traditional restaurant that says: ‘We don’t welcome addicts, drunks and women!’ I was shocked to see this!”

Another Iranian activist, Ahmad Shahidi, sarcastically tweeted: “Women can’t go to these restaurants alone anymore. Ladies, let me know when you need a male guardian for smoking Hookah.”