The Iranian government banned women from attending today’s volleyball match between Iran and the United States in Tehran, despite hopes among activists that women would be allowed to attend.

NBC reported:

Earlier this month, Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi announced that a limited number of women — mainly members of players’ families — would be allowed at upcoming men’s volleyball matches. In an interview with The Associated Press, Molaverdi said women could also now watch live basketball, handball and tennis. However, women would not be allowed to attend soccer, swimming and wrestling. …

A group of basij militia held a “prayer protest” outside the sports ministry on Tuesday and deeply conservative groups have threatened to “spill blood” if women try to attend Friday’s game.

And in a clear sign of back-pedaling, the state-run ISNA news service on Friday quoted an official from Iran’s volleyball federation as saying “the entry of women at volleyball matches is forbidden.”

The basij militia is a volunteer force that is controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

An article published earlier this week in The Daily Beast, before a final decision was made, quoted a cleric who said that having women attending sporting events “promotes prostitution,” and also noted that Khamenei consistently opposed allowing women to watch sporting events in stadiums.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, a female British-Iranian citizen, was jailed for five months last year for attempting to attend a volleyball match.

[Photo: OpenStadiums 4 Iranian women / YouTube ]