New Wave of Arrests in Mixed Parties in Iran

The head of the judicial district in Golbahar, Razavi Khorasan Province, reported the arrest of 18 individuals at a mixed party. It has been reported that 11 of the detainees are girls and seven are boys. According to this judicial official, about five liters of homemade alcoholic beverages and 200 cc of suspicious drinks were discovered. A report from the 'Rokna' website, citing Jawad Mahmoudi, the head of the Golbahar judicial district, stated that the girls present at this nighttime party were lured to the location under the pretext of a girls' birthday party via the internet last Thursday night, and upon arrival, they encountered several men but did not leave the party. Meanwhile, the 'Neday Chenaran' website reported that the commander of the local IRGC stated that on Wednesday night, Basij forces continued their arrests of participants in mixed parties, which he described as 'vulgar', and unexpectedly detained 11 men and 7 women. Colonel Majid Azarkish described these 18 individuals, referred to as girls and boys elsewhere in the report, as being inappropriately dressed, in an abnormal state (noted as 'drunk'), and dancing, emphasizing that they had no familial relations with each other. He mentioned that the average age of the detainees was between 18 and 25 years and noted that they had been handed over to judicial authorities for legal proceedings. The 'Neday Chenaran' website reported that five liters of alcoholic beverages, 400 cc of wine, and 15 serving glasses (noted as 'shots') were confiscated from the party. Both the Rokna and Neday Chenaran websites noted that previously, in mid-December, 23 girls and boys had been arrested at a mixed nighttime party in the same area. Last Wednesday, news agencies reported that 120 women and men were arrested at a café in central Tehran, according to Tehran's prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi. He stated that based on investigations from the main suspect, the café manager was paid 700,000 tomans for four hours of hosting the event, and two unauthorized singers were present at the ceremony, with the suspects being sent to prison after a security order was issued. Tehran's prosecutor also mentioned that 15 bottles of alcoholic beverages were discovered, and 15 of the suspects, who were intoxicated, were arrested, preventing the café from continuing its operations. The judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan reported last Tuesday that over 30 girls and a number of boys aged 18 to 25 were arrested at a nighttime party in a teahouse in central Tehran. According to the Rokna website, on Saturday evening, December 21, 54 young girls and boys were arrested at a nighttime party in the Amirabad Phase 2 area of Abadan, and a young girl angrily stated that she would complain to the authorities for disrupting her birthday celebration. The report from Rokna noted that the detainees were released after signing a commitment letter, although the young girl whose birthday it was, along with the host, remained in police custody. Reports indicate that at least 245 individuals have been arrested at mixed parties in Iran in just the last two weeks. Iranian news agencies have published numerous reports in recent months about the crackdown by Islamic Republic agents on mixed parties, indicating that hundreds have been arrested in various cities across the country for participating in such gatherings.