Earthquakes blamed on pants-wearing women

National Public Radio this week reported on one very unusual explanation for the recent spate of seismological activity: Earthquakes, according to at least one Iranian cleric, are caused by women who wear pants.

I didn't catch the source of the original story, but it's probably a report from Associated Press reporter Scheherezade Faramarz, which quoted Tehran prayer leader Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi as offering the following explanation:

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,"

Faramarz notes that in Iran, women are required by law to cover from head to toe, but points out that many flout the strictest wardrobe restrictions by wearing "tight coats and scarves pulled back that show much of the hair."

According to Sedighi, that has angered a divine authority, who apparently has requested (through Sedighi) that "the people make a general repentance."

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