Iran's morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday.

As the West imposes the toughest ever sanctions on Iran and tensions rise over its nuclear program, inside the country the Barbie ban is part of what the government calls a "soft war" against decadent cultural influences.

"About three weeks ago they (the morality police) came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies," said a shopkeeper in a toy shop in northern Tehran.

Iran's religious rulers first declared Barbie, made by US company Mattel Inc, un-Islamic in 1996, citing its "destructive cultural and social consequences." Despite the ban, the doll has until recently been openly on sale in Tehran shops.

The new order, issued around three weeks ago, forced shopkeepers to hide the leggy, busty blonde behind other toys as a way of meeting popular demand for the dolls while avoiding being closed down by the police.

A range of officially approved dolls launched in 2002 to counter demand for Barbie have not proven successful, merchants told the reporters.

The dolls named Sara, a female, and Dara, a male arrived in shops wearing a variety of traditional dress, with Sara fully respecting the rule that all women in Iran must obey in public, of covering their hair and wearing loose-fitting clothes.

"My daughter prefers Barbies. She says Sara and Dara are ugly and fat," said Farnaz, a 38-year-old mother, adding that she could not find Barbie cartoon DVDs as she was told they were also banned from public sale.

Pointing to a doll covered in black long veil, a 40-year-old Tehran toy shop manager said: "We still sell Barbies but secretly and put these in the window to make the police think we are just selling these kinds of dolls."
伊朗一些店主本周一称，为防止“有害的”西方文化侵蚀伊斯兰价值观，伊朗道德警察禁止出售芭比娃娃。

在西方国家对伊朗实施最严厉制裁、以及伊朗核项目造成的紧张状态升级的同时，伊朗国内也掀起了一场反对西方颓废文化入侵的“软战争”，禁售芭比娃娃就是其中一项内容。

德黑兰北部一家玩具店店主说：“大约三周前，道德警察来到我们的商店，要求我们撤下所有芭比娃娃。”

伊朗宗教统治者最初在1996年宣布，美国美泰公司制造的芭比娃娃“反伊斯兰”，将对伊朗文化和社会产生破坏性后果。尽管有此禁令，但德黑兰一些商店仍在公开售卖芭比娃娃。

大约三周前发布的这一新法令迫使店主们将长腿、胸部丰满的金发芭比娃娃藏在其他玩具后面，以应对人们对芭比娃娃的大量需求，否则店铺将被道德警察强制关闭。

商家告诉记者，为了抵制人们对芭比娃娃的需求，伊朗曾在2002年推出一套官方认可的娃娃，但事后证明不成功。

这套玩偶名为“莎拉”（女）和“达拉”（男），他们身穿多种多样的传统服饰在商店出售。“莎拉”完全遵从伊朗对所有女性的着装规定，即必须在公共场合遮盖头发，穿宽松服装。

38岁的母亲法纳兹说：“我女儿更喜欢芭比娃娃，她说莎拉和达拉又丑又胖。”她补充说自己也找不到芭比娃娃的动画片影碟了，因为店家告诉她这些也禁止公开出售。

一位40岁的德黑兰玩具店店主指着身穿黑纱的玩偶说：“我们还在偷卖芭比，把这些摆在橱窗里是为了让警察以为我们只在卖这类玩偶。”

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