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Immorality among Iranian women is causing the Zayandeh-rud river to dry up, according to a senior cleric from the Islamic Republic. Seyyed Youssef Tabatabi-nejad urged the country's moral police to keep a check on 'immoral' Iranian women whose 'improper veiling and immodest clothing' had an impact on the environment.

In one of his sermons, he is reported to have told that his office received pictures of women next to the dry river pictured as if they were in Europe; and that acts of the sort cause the river to dry up further. He also urged the police force to use the parliamentary Hezbollahi forces to carry out their operations against such women to "root out the vice".

The cleric's comments come at a time when Iran is seeing an increase in number of moral policing incidents and subsequent crackdown of women failing to veil properly, playing loud music in their cars, and other such acts that are perceived to be un-Islamic. Tabatabi-nejad's comments have been criticised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, with a member of foreign affairs committee who reportedly told that his comments reflected the typical mindset of theocratic regime ruling Iran which is no different to the culture of Daesh (Isis).

The imam, in the past, has reportedly made comments that women should stay at home while men work, as well as condoning violence against women who do not adhere to the country's dress code.