Head of Mashhad's Cultural Office Released on Bail

The Deputy Prosecutor of Mashhad announced the release on bail of the Deputy Director and Head of the Cultural Office of the city, who had been previously detained due to "the dancing of several individuals at the Salman Tower." The official news agency of the Iranian judiciary, Mizan, published this news quoting Hassan Heydari. Mr. Heydari stated that this executive official was detained "following the incident of norm-breaking" at the Salman Tower and "due to offending public decency, failing to comply with relevant laws, and creating disturbances for the merchants at the Salman Tower." Last week, after a lottery event held at the Salman Tower in Mashhad, videos from the celebration were released showing several participants, including women, dancing and celebrating to the music of Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh, a singer. Following the release of this video, Mohammad Kazem Dabiri, the Head of the Cultural Office of Mashhad and Deputy Director of the province, was arrested. The arrest of the head of the Cultural Office occurred while this local official had promised to "take action" against the organizer and the staff of the Salman Tower after this celebration. It was later announced that seven other individuals involved in organizing this celebration were also arrested in connection with this case. The positions of these individuals and their roles in organizing the Salman Tower celebration have not been disclosed. These arrests came after conservative media labeled the event as "subversive" and introduced it as the "opening of a lingerie store." Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayer Leader of Mashhad, who has opposed concerts in the city multiple times over the past year, also reacted to this program, stating: "Women take off their hijabs and no one in the country cares, except for the officials of the judiciary." Mr. Alamolhoda described dancing and joy during this event as a "crime" and "corruption and depravity" that occurred next to the dome of the eighth Shia Imam. He also claimed that the music performance at this shopping center was due to the opening of a women's lingerie store. While the execution of this program reportedly led to protest letters from 170 mosques and 55 student organizations, Mohsen Afshar, a board member of the Salman Tower, considered this event to be permitted and added: "The controversies surrounding this celebration were created by a group of people who want to make a mountain out of a molehill and create a scene in every issue." Simultaneously, Mohammad Rahim Norouziyan, the governor of Mashhad, criticized the arrest of the head of the Mashhad office, stating: "We do not approve of this process, and it is not appropriate. If he was arrested due to the controversies surrounding the Salman Tower concert, as far as we know, he had no role in this matter and performed his legal duty." Mr. Norouziyan added in an interview with Etemad Online that "if it is to be the case that an agency is treated this way for performing its legal duty, nothing will hold together, and the job security of individuals will be at risk, which is certainly problematic." He also mentioned that discussions with provincial officials, including the Friday Prayer Leader of Mashhad, to resolve this issue had taken place, stating that "this issue has nothing to do with the Friday Prayer Leader of Mashhad; the judiciary is the party responsible for this matter." The silence of Hassan Rouhani's government on this issue has also sparked criticism. For instance, ISNA criticized the silence of Abbas Salehi, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, regarding this matter. ISNA's report noted that when the head of the Mashhad Cultural Office was arrested, Mr. Salehi was in Iraq and had not announced any position regarding this incident until the first of Ordibehesht. Questions from reporters to the Minister of Culture during a visit to the Charsu Cinema Complex, the venue for the 36th Fajr International Film Festival, also went "unanswered." The Rouhani government and judicial officials in South Khorasan have been in conflict over music and cultural programs. Although this conflict peaked during Ali Jannati's tenure as Minister of Culture, it seems that tensions between the parties have not been resolved with the change of ministers. Unconfirmed reports after the change of the Minister of Culture indicated that Hassan Rouhani was dissatisfied with Ali Jannati for what was termed as "yielding" to Alamolhoda's demands. After prolonged conflicts with judicial and security officials in this province, Ali Jannati announced that "to respect Ayatollah Alamolhoda's opinion, no concerts will be held in Mashhad from now on." Repeated criticisms of judicial actions against cultural programs in Mashhad have reached a point where Ali Motahari, a principlist member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that the Iranian government system is not "federal" and Khorasan Razavi does not have "autonomy."