40 People Arrested at a Night Party in Birjand

The Prosecutor General and Revolution of South Khorasan has reported the arrest of 40 "young men and women" at a "night party." According to the IRNA news agency, the Deputy Prosecutor General of South Khorasan announced that the average age of the detainees is between "20 to 35 years." Ahmadreza Arab Shibani stated that among the 40 arrested individuals, 16 are men and 24 are women, who were detained in the outskirts of Birjand for "drinking and possession of alcohol and other social offenses" based on the judge's observations. Arab Shibani added that a case has been opened for these individuals "urgently and at the insistence of the prosecutor" in the first branch of the public and revolutionary court of Birjand, where a special judge for combating social corruption will address their charges. This is not the first time police forces in Birjand have raided private parties to arrest participants. Last December, the public prosecutor of Birjand reported the arrest of 36 individuals at a "night party" in the city, stating that these individuals had attended the event under the guise of a "birthday celebration." Hossein Moghadam announced that the police had been informed about the party before it started and upon arrival at the location, arrested "a large number of girls, boys, women, and men" who, according to him, were "in a very disgraceful condition, dancing to loud music in mixed groups and performing inappropriate movements while removing their hijabs." In February 2018, the police chief of South Khorasan reported the arrest of 55 individuals who, according to him, participated in a "mixed party" in Birjand. Majid Shoja stated that the police were informed before the party that "a woman with a known identity, along with her husband who is not from the province, intends to hold a mixed night party and engage in acts contrary to public morality in Birjand." He did not provide further details about the couple organizing this party or his statements regarding their intentions to perform what he termed "acts contrary to public morality." In recent years, reports of arrests of individuals in various cities in Iran for participating in "mixed parties" and "consuming alcoholic beverages" have increased, with reports of several young people being arrested in different provinces. These arrests have even extended to family gatherings such as birthday and wedding parties, with dozens having been arrested or released on bail and fines in this context. Additionally, there have been reports of the closure of venues hosting "night parties" and the arrest of several individuals in this regard in various cities across Iran. Since the 1979 revolution, and especially in recent years, Iranian police have repeatedly raided parties, celebrations, and private events, arresting many and handing them over to judicial authorities. The scope of police intervention in private parties, which peaked in the early days of the revolution in February 1979 and had subsided for years, has increased again in the last three years following a directive from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to confront what he calls "social harms."