The Iranian government have announced a crackdown on gays, who it claims are a sign of "western depravity" as well as "un-Islamic women", according to media reports.

Earlier this week, police have been told to close down close down Internet providers who allow gay sites as well as Internet cafes frequented by gays. Bizarrely the wearing of neckties has also been banned. At least one Internet cafe that catered to a mainly gay clientele has been shut.

According to an US gay news website citing the centrist Entekhab newspaper, a decree issued from the justice ministry calls gay Iranians a sign of the country's drift towards "western depravity."

Women who smoke in public, show their hair, wear make-up and buy lingerie from male sales assistants are deemed 'un-Islamic' and can be jailed. The use of female mannequins in shop windows is also forbidden "if their body outline is visible."

While the governing religious conservatives and moderates have been in power struggle for control of the country for nearly three years and with the country's reformist president, Mohammed Khatami, trying to improve Iran's relations with western countries in recent weeks after the terrorist attacks on the US, the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has intervened taking the opportunity to put a more forceful imprint on social policy.

The report also stated that the moves are seen in pro-reform circles as part of a wider crackdown by the conservative judiciary on young reformists and intellectuals allied with the President.

The crackdown is similar to the one that began in Egypt two years ago where the 52 alleged gay men who were arrested in May are now on trial for sexual immorality and for forming a group, which denigrated Islam.