'A man looks chic with one': Iran sees timid return of neckties

A shopkeeper assists a customer to try on a tie at a clothing shop in the north of Iran's capital Tehran. Photo: AFP

Mohammad Javad enters a fashionable shop in well-to-do north Tehran with his mother. For the first time ever he wants a necktie, long banned in Iran as a symbol of Western decadence.

The 27-year-old dentist said he opted for this clothing accessory in hopes of looking his best during the first meeting with his future in-laws.