[00:00.00]France¡¯s national airline will allow female staff to volunteer

[00:05.66]for a new route to Iran rather than require them.

[00:09.58]Air France announced that female flight attendants must wear a headscarf,

[00:16.15]also known as hijab, on arrival in Iran.

[00:21.12]Some flight attendants objected.

[00:24.30]The union representing crew members said they worried that

[00:29.83]females would face discipline if they refused to work the flight.

[00:34.36]The airline now says female participation

[00:39.16]on the route to Iran will be on a volunteer basis.

[00:43.38]The airline begins three flights a week

[00:47.97]between Paris and Tehran on April 17.

[00:51.78]The headscarf issue puts the two cultures in conflict.

[00:57.28]Women in Iran have been required to wear hijab since a revolution in 1979.

[01:05.52]In France, religious headscarves are not allowed in some schools and offices.

[01:11.83]It is also against the law to wear the full-faced veil in public in France.

[01:19.94]I¡¯m Kathleen Struck.