NEW LAW BY IRAN ON NEW DRESS CODE AS REPORTED BY CANADIAN NEWSPAPER

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Israel objects to Iran's new dress code for non-Muslims
Jerusalem,PTI:
Israel has reacted strongly to a news report that Iran has passed a new law that mandates non-Muslims to wear disctinct colour bands to identify them in public saying that it resembled Nazi era policy against Jews.

The purpose of the law as per a report in the 'Canadian National Post' is to prevent Muslims from becoming "unclean" by accidentally shaking the hands of non-Muslims in public.

Citing human rights groups the newspaper yesterday reported that the Iranian Parliament had passed a new dress code for religious minorities this week and was awaiting the final approval from its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to the new law, the Jews will have to wear a yellow band on their exterior in public, while Christians will be required to don red ones, the newspaper claimed.

But, no details regarding the law were available and the only source of information is the report in the 'Canadian National Post'. A member of the Iranian Parliament has also denied that such a law was passed and called the news report a "lie".

"Whoever makes Jews anywhere wear the yellow star again, will find themselves in a coffin draped in black," Israel's Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said.

"The State of Israel was created after the Holocaust in order to ensure it would not be repeated. The yellow star is a bright red warning sign that obligates us to muster the entire world in the face of events there [Iran]," another Minister Paz-Pines told the local media.

The Wiesenthal Centre officials have sent a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urging him "not to ignore" the new law which also requires Muslims to wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions. As per the report it was drafted during the presidency of Muhammad Khatami in 2004, but was blocked.

Incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad however has pressured to remove the blockage, the newspaper added.

The United States, Canada and Australia has also criticised Iran in this rega