Closure of Shops During Ramadan; 15 Restaurants and Food Outlets Shut Down in Dezful

On the eve of Nowruz in Iran, coinciding with Ramadan, the police commander of Dezful in Khuzestan province has closed 15 food outlets and restaurants, while the Hamadan Chamber of Guilds has also threatened that shops that do not respect the sanctity of Ramadan will be closed until the end of this lunar month. According to the government news agency IRNA, Rouhollah Yari Zadeh, the police commander of Dezful, announced that the closure of the 15 restaurants and food outlets was due to 'non-compliance with the regulations regarding business activities during Ramadan' and that 'their continued operation has been prevented.' He also mentioned that 'written commitments' have been obtained from the operators of 80 other businesses, and 'oral warnings' have been given to another 135 businesses. Simultaneously, the state news agency IRIB quoted Mohammad Arghavan, head of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Council for the guilds and market in Hamadan, stating that due to the coincidence of Ramadan and Nowruz, 'necessary measures have been taken,' and that 'the units allowed to serve food have been determined and marked with banners.' Arghavan, who is also the head of the Hamadan Chamber of Guilds, emphasized that 'the concerns of the faithful and revolutionary people are very important to us,' threatening that any other business serving food outside the designated units will face 'serious consequences and will be closed until the end of Ramadan.' He urged 'fasting people' to report any food sales by businesses outside the established framework, stating that 'no leniency will be shown to violators.' Eating and drinking in public during Ramadan between dawn and sunset is prohibited in Iran and is considered 'unjustified eating during fasting,' which is deemed a sinful act and can lead to punishments including flogging. According to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code, 'whoever publicly displays a forbidden act in public and streets shall be punished with imprisonment from 10 days to 2 months or up to 74 lashes, and if the act does not carry a punishment but offends public decency, they shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 10 days to 2 months or 74 lashes.' Kazem Sedighi, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, who recently had his land-grabbing case exposed, previously stated that 'displaying eating during fasting' is among 'immoral acts' and that 'the Islamic government has a duty' to confront it. Ali Karimi, a prominent Iranian football figure and critic of the Islamic Republic, has also previously emphasized that 'the main fasting is not taking away the rights of the people, and its duration is 12 months.'