Iranian hard-liners praise taxi driver for booting passenger over 'poor' hijab
Divisions in Iranian society over the country's hijab laws are being exposed in a massive backlash over a taxi driver's clash with a female passenger he found in violation of veiling norms.
When Pooyeh Nourian tweeted her outrage with a Tehran cab driver she had ordered through a popular ride-hailing app, she probably had no idea that her tweets would open a Pandora's box on Iran's controversial hijab rules.
Minutes into embarking on the trip from Tehran's affluent north, the young Iranian woman was criticized by the driver over her failure to observe proper hijab. In the ensuing angry exchange, Nourian was dropped off halfway to her destination, according to her account. The male driver, Saeed Abed, meanwhile, claims that he offered to transfer the passenger back to the departure point and she refused.
Nourian immediately tweeted the exchange in protest, saying Snapp — the widely used Iranian version of Uber — promised to look into the matter. Her posts also included some identity details of the driver, which she made public in the form of a screenshot taken from the app.
But that was not the end of the dispute that started on June 6. In hours, Snapp issued a statement meant to appease both the passenger and the driver. Social media rumors had it later that the driver had been suspended, drawing reactions from hard-liners who started promoting a boycott of the app.
