Mashhad Friday Sermon By Ayatollah Alamolhoda: Women On Bikes Ignite Men's Sexual Urges, Make Universities 'Centers Of Corruption'; Designated Parks For Women's Bike Riding Should Be Set Up

Iranian Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, Supreme Leader Khamenei's representative in the Khorasan Razavi Province, said in a Friday, June 19, 2020 sermon in Mashhad that aired on Khorasan Razavi TV (Iran) that Khamenei has said it is forbidden for girls and women to ride bicycles in the vicinity of men to whom they are not related. Alamolhoda said that the purpose of this is to protect women's honor and to prevent men from having sexual urges. He added that it is the job of the municipalities to establish parks and areas for women's only exercise. He added: "For a girl to ride a bicycle on the roads in university turns her into a fire that ignites young men's sexual urges, and it makes universities a center of corruption – this is something we will fight against."

Ahmad Alamolhoda: "The honorable Leader [Khamenei] said in his fatwas that it is forbidden for girls and women to ride bicycles in the vicinity of men to whom they are not related. This is not meant to prevent women's recreation, nor is it meant to prevent them from exercising. There is no problem with them riding bicycles in a safe environment that protects their honor and that prevents men from having sexual urges. It is the job of municipalities to establish parks for women, as well as open and free spaces for all sorts of women's sports, including cycling. However, for a girl to ride a bicycle on the roads in a university before the eyes of thousands of young students turns her into a fire that ignites young men's sexual urges and it makes universities a center of corruption — this is something we will fight against."