Imams Attack Cyrus Day Ceremony and Closure of Pasargad Road

Simultaneously with reports of the closure of the main road leading to the tomb of Cyrus, the Friday prayer leaders of Fars province strongly criticized the commemoration of this Achaemenid king, labeling Israel and the United States as "supporters" of the ceremony. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Alireza Siyahpour, the director general of road maintenance and transportation in Fars province, announced on Friday, November 5, that the Marvdasht-Sourmaq-Abadeh road would be closed on Saturday and Sunday, November 6 and 7, due to "repairs." This road is the main route to the tomb of Cyrus and part of the Shiraz-Isfahan highway. The ancient site of Pasargad is located about 135 kilometers from Shiraz and three kilometers from the paved road from Shiraz to Abadeh. Meanwhile, the director general of road maintenance and transportation in Fars province announced that drivers intending to travel from Isfahan to southern cities in Fars province should use alternative routes. On Wednesday, one of the listeners of Radio Farda reported from Pasargad that local people stated that "due to the proximity of November 7, Cyrus Day, security agencies are putting up barriers around Pasargad, the tomb of Cyrus, to prevent gatherings of people at this location." In recent days, videos have also circulated on social media showing dozens of anti-riot police vehicles being dispatched to the Pasargad area. Meanwhile, Friday prayer leaders in cities of Fars province harshly attacked the Cyrus Day ceremony during their sermons on November 5. Among them, the Friday prayer leader of Shiraz stated that November 7 as Cyrus Day is only mentioned in the "Israeli Torah" and that "this issue shows that under the pretext of this occasion, they are seeking to create a rift among the people." According to Fars News Agency, Asadollah Imani emphasized that for several years, Fars province has been "entangled in the fake occasion of November 7." The Babylonian inscription known as the "Nabonidus Chronicle" records November 7 (October 29) as the day of Cyrus the Great's entry into Babylon; a day that, according to historical data, led to the liberation of slaves and the writing of the Babylonian cylinder of Cyrus the Great, which is referred to as the first charter of human rights. Last year, following a gathering of thousands to participate in the commemoration at Pasargad, many participants were arrested. Radio Farda recently received images from its audience of text messages warning against another gathering in the Pasargad area. Continuing the attacks on this ceremony, the Friday prayer leader of Eqlid in Fars province also considered the commemoration of Cyrus Day as "America's games" in pursuit of "its own and Israel's interests." Mohammad Sadegh Talebi also referred to Cyrus Day as "the continuation of the sedition of 78 and 88" and stated that America and Israel are the "supporters of the holding" of the Cyrus Day ceremony. The leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates refer to the protests against the 2009 presidential election and the protests against the attack on Tehran University dormitory in 1999 as "sedition." Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamadani, a Shia cleric in Qom, criticized the presence of thousands next to the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargad last year, stating that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, labeled those who "remembered Cyrus" as "counter-revolutionaries." Despite the positions of these Shia clerics, Bahram Parsai, a representative of Shiraz in the parliament, on October 11, requested in a letter to the Minister of Culture to hold an official ceremony on Cyrus Day. Last year, a group of participants in Pasargad chanted slogans including "Iran is our homeland, Cyrus is our father" and also slogans against the Islamic Republic government. According to reports, other slogans chanted by the participants on this day in Pasargad included "Happy Birthday, Prince," referring to November 9, the birthday of Prince Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince of Iran. He also reacted to this slogan on his Facebook page, stating that it was the "best birthday gift in recent years." In this context, widespread interest in Cyrus Day raises the question: Is Iran witnessing a "neo-paganism movement"? "The detainees in Pasargad had no lawyers, and their sentences were announced verbally." 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