 Iran is seeking to create a paradise for female tourists by turning an island on a north-western lake into a male-free zone, the press reported on Wednesday.
| It's the fabled Island of Nekkid Wimmin! |
All public transport, restaurants and facilities on the island -- on the gigantic Oroumiyeh lake close to the Turkish border -- will be staffed only by women, officials said. "The island of Arezou [Wish], one of the 102 islands in the Oroumiyeh lake, will be equipped especially for women," a municipal official in the West Azerbaijan province, identified only as Aghai, was quoted as saying by the Tehran Emrouz newspaper. "There will be no men on the island," he said.
| "And there will be snap inspection tours by delegations of high-ranking holy men to make sure that's the case!" |
"It will also boost tourism in the area."
| The surrounding Men-only islands are expecting a rise in reservation levels, and the boat concessions are expecting their most profitable year ever. |
| I want the binoculars concession ... |
The construction of hotels, small restaurants and medical centres under the management of women is one of the specifications for the island, the first such in the country, he said. The initiative has even been cleared by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's provincial representative, who declared that a women-only island is not against Islamic sharia law, the official said.
| "Matter of fact, you're supposed to have them. It's in the Koran someplace. You could look it up." |
Iran's Islamic codes strictly prohibit exposure of unveiled women to men. Iran has already partitioned parts of its southern and northern beaches as women-only zones where women can legally remove their headscarves and overcoats in freedom. In some cities, there are also special "women parks". |
