The fourth Reich of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

I couldn't believe my eyes for a while, reading this (via Mick Hartley).

Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims.

Iranian expatriates living in Canada yesterday confirmed reports that the Iranian parliament, called the Islamic Majlis, passed a law this week setting a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear almost identical "standard Islamic garments."

The law, which must still be approved by Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi before being put into effect, also establishes special insignia to be worn by non-Muslims.

Iran's roughly 25,000 Jews would have to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth.

The new law was drafted two years ago, but was stuck in the Iranian parliament until recently when it was revived at the behest of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

When a completely mad person gets to all kinds of shenanigans in public, it could be quite embarrassing for the people who elected him to a high office. But when the parliament becomes a willing toy in the hands of a maniac, the world should take heed. Knowing the ways of the world, I do not expect much. But a few interested parties might want to sort out the situation.

I am not a prophet, but my advice to all Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, gays and any other minorities: get out of there while there is time. And the time is getting short.

Update by Meryl: Another source says the story is untrue. However, it has been picked up and expanded on by Ynet and other news sources. And while I believe the current Iranian regime is perfectly capable of this, the jury is still out on whether or not this story is true.

Update by SnoopyTheGoon: I hope that source is right, and the whole story is a hoax. There is a report in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat that talks about the new dress code law in Iran, without going into specific details. We should wait.


Update by Meryl, 5/20: The reports are being denied by the Canadian Iranian ambassador and a Jewish member of the Iranian parliament, and the MP who proposed the law in the first place.

But I see an interesting omission here. Funny, but you'd think that this would be the kind of thing that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would want to deny to prove that he's not anti-Semitic. He's the one who insists, over and over again, that it isn't Jews he's against. It's Zionism. The silence here is very telling.