Iran’s hardline Islamic leaders have banned women from appearing in adverts under the state’s strict chastity rules.

The announcement came hot on the heels of an ad featuring an attractive woman in a loose-fitting hijab suggestively biting into a Magnum ice cream.

Iranian clerics were reportedly enraged by the commercial and urged officials to sue local ice cream manufacturer Domino.

Officials ruled that the advert went “against public decency” and was an “insult” to “women’s values”.

Now Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has reportedly said in a letter to the country’s art and cinema schools that, as per “hijab and chastity rules”, women are no longer allowed to feature in adverts.

The ban, says the letter, conforms to rulings issued by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

The ban is also based on Iran’s rules and regulations concerning commercial adverts, which prohibit “instrumental use” of not only women but also children and men.

The ban has long been in force. However, how “instrumental use” is interpreted differs depending on how hardline the ruling administration is at a given time.

The ban comes amid a backdrop of Iranian women joining a social media campaign against the Islamic Republic’s hijab enforcement street patrols.