Seventy Arrested at a Private Party in a Restaurant in Farahzad

The Iranian Judiciary news agency reports that security police have identified and arrested 70 individuals at a restaurant in the Farahzad area of Tehran, some of whom are accused of 'consuming alcoholic beverages.' In a brief news release published on Thursday afternoon by the official news agency of the Judiciary, Mizan, it was stated that Tehran's security police arrested 70 girls and boys during a mixed-gender party at Amir Rish restaurant on Thursday night. The news agency added that among those arrested were individuals described as 'transgender' or 'intersex,' who had 'consumed alcoholic beverages.' Mizan later reported, citing the police's information center, that Tehran's security police became aware of a 'night party' at a restaurant in Eastern Farahzad at 3 AM on Friday and 'immediately' dispatched security police teams to the restaurant. According to this report, security police arrested '40 men (6 intersex) and 30 women' and transferred them to the police station. The police information center also announced that 'alcohol tests for 28 men and 6 women were positive, and the case is under judicial investigation.' The news of the arrest of these 70 individuals in Tehran comes just days after the state news agency IRNA reported the arrest of dozens of women and men at a 'mixed party' in Bandar Abbas. On Wednesday evening, June 12, IRNA quoted an 'informed source' in the Hormozgan police as saying that 'last Friday night' [one week prior], 39 women and 23 men were arrested at a 'mixed night party' in Bandar Abbas by the moral security police and handed over to the Judiciary. In this regard, the Director General of Security and Police of Hormozgan Province warned that the police 'regularly patrol houses, villas, and urban and rural areas' and will confront those who 'threaten the order and security of the people.' This provincial official added that 'these individuals typically engage in immoral activities such as drinking alcohol and sexual misconduct during their gatherings, so law enforcement is more active than before in dealing with them.' In recent days, the implementation of flogging sentences for 35 male and female students for participating in a 'mixed night party' in Qazvin has made headlines, provoking significant protests and criticisms. However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the first deputy and spokesperson of the Judiciary, deemed the flogging sentence 'legal' and stated that the Judiciary has 'evidence and indications' showing that 'parties held in several provinces of the country were orchestrated by a specific group.' In Iran, participation in certain mixed private celebrations can lead to arrests, and hundreds of reports on this issue have been published in the media over the past 35 years. For instance, Dadkhoda Salari, the prosecutor of Kerman, reported on Tuesday, June 4, the arrest of 23 participants in a celebration on charges of 'drinking alcohol' and 'mixed dancing in inappropriate attire.' In late May, Nabiollah Moslemi, head of the Protection and Information Center of the Judiciary in Mazandaran Province, announced the arrest of over 15 lawyers at a 'night party' in the city of Sorkhroud Mahmoudabad in that province. In recent months, the Iranian police have unveiled a new initiative in the field of moral and social security called 'covert patrols,' which, despite government opposition, has received support from Ayatollah Khamenei and judicial officials.