A member of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Hossein Jalali, told the media that the government was planning to punish women who refuse to wear hijabs (headscarves) in public by freezing their bank accounts. The government’s plans are mirroring a technique used by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suppress civil liberties protesters.

Jalali said that “unveiled persons” would get a text message telling them to respect the law, then enter a “warning phase,” and eventually have their bank accounts frozen.

“In the third stage, the bank account of the unveiled person may be frozen,” Jalali said.