Thirty-one women and men were arrested at a private party in a coffee shop in the southwestern Iranian city of Mahshahr, judicial authorities announced on April 10.
“The state security forces arrested 31 people at a mixed [gender)] party in a coffee shop in Mahshahr Port,” the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Mahshahr Port said, according to the state-run IRIB News Agency.
Mehdi Mohammadi added: “This offending coffee shop was sealed and a lawsuit was filed against the arrested people who had broken the norms and held a night party.”
Warning “outlaw offenders,” Mohammadi said: “thd judicial system will seriously deal with individuals who trample upon the law and will not tolerate any wrongdoing in this regard.”
Despite the many problems Iranians and the economy face, officials, and the clerics at the very top of the regime prioritize cracking down on civil liberties instead of solving real problems.
Violating privacy of Iranian citizens, Iranian authorities systematically raid private parties or restaurants arresting and sometimes flogging citizens under the guise of being improper veiled or drinking alcohol.
The state security forces on April 2 arrested 13 young men and women for what they called “having fun and drinking alcohol” in a restaurant cafe in Tehran.
The state-run Rokna news agency reported the same day that the state security forces surrounded the restaurant in Tehranpars district at 10 pm Thursday, and arrested 13 young men and women who were drinking “alcohol” and smoking hookah, along with the owners of the cafe.
In late March, The Head of Dezful’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department in southwestern Iran said the managers of a tour group were arrested for “mixing genders, improper appearance and dancing”.
“The tour group had come to Lake Shahyun from another province without permission or coordination with tourism officials and law enforcement. They were arrested upon orders of the Provincial Security Council,” Mehdi Chenari, the Head of the Dezful Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts said on March 25, 2121, according to the state-run IRNA News Agency.
The report did not specify the number of detainees and their identities.
