The National Post caused a world wide uproar when it erroneously reported a dress code bill being passed in the Iranian parliament would require religious color coded dress or badges.
The countrt recognizes Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism outside Islam. In the Asia Times Amir Tahari stands by his original information.
Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun. As far as my article is concerned I stand by it.
The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis [parliament] and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation.
Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation, including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such.
The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. (In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908).
I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to my sources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004.
The National Post apology was published this week.
“It is now clear the story is not true,” Douglas Kelly, the National Post’s editor in chief, wrote in a long editorial on Page 2. “We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story.”
Kelly stated the original story was based on a column by Amir Taheri, and information from two expatriate Iranians living in Canada. The erroneous article titled - Iran eyes badges for Jews - ran in The National Post May 19th.
