Police in Iran have arrested merchants for selling clothing featuring flags of the United States and Britain, the AFP reported on Tuesday, September 1st citing local media.
Garments imprinted with “Satanic symbols” were also seized from stores in Tehran, city police chief General Hossein Sajedinia was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying.
Sajedinia said reports about the activity had been received in the past two weeks, leading to surveillance and detentions.
“This morning we took these clothes off leading distributors,” he said, noting that any stores that sell such items “will be closed.”
The move underlined the fractious attitude from some authorities regarding the United States.
Washington broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran in 1980 after students seized its embassy and took dozens of hostages during the Islamic revolution the previous year.
Iran’s senior leaders have said nothing will change in their approach toward the US.
The leader of the Islamic revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini, dubbed the United States the “Great Satan” on account of its policies and support for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last royal ruler before the Islamic republic was founded.
Britain also has a troubled history in Iran.
Along with the United States, it orchestrated a coup that toppled Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 after he had nationalized the oil industry.