Writers' Association: Friday's Raid Indicates Intensification of Government Repressive Actions

The Iranian Writers' Association condemned the raid by security agents on a ceremony in Tehran that was supposed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the association on Friday. They called on cultural organizations and writers worldwide to protest against the 'repressive actions of the Iranian government' and to defend this association. Earlier reports indicated that security agents raided a house in West Tehran on Friday, preventing the ceremony from taking place. According to a statement from the Iranian Writers' Association published on Saturday, June 5, the agents 'took away all posters, memorabilia, memorials, and materials that had been prepared by the members of this association for the ceremony over the past year.' Nasser Zarafshan, a lawyer and member of the Iranian Writers' Association who was present at the ceremony, told Radio Farda: 'Gathering a group for an anniversary ceremony in a private home does not require a permit legally.' The Iranian Writers' Association described such actions as 'a clear violation of the most basic citizen rights' and referred to the history of such actions in the Islamic Republic, including the prevention of memorial ceremonies for Ahmad Shamlu, Mohammad Mokhtari, Mohammad Jafar Pouyandeh, and Ali-Ashraf Darvishian in recent years. The statement from the Iranian Writers' Association noted that after the nationwide protests last December, the Iranian government 'claimed to recognize the right to protest and gather for opponents and protesters,' stating that the raid on a private location without public announcement and the 'several-hour siege of a residential home and the surrounding streets indicate the intensification of the repressive actions of the Islamic Republic.' The Iranian Writers' Association was founded in 1968 by a number of writers and intellectuals and has been considered the main independent and non-governmental organization of writers in Iran in recent decades. Over the past four decades, the Islamic Republic officials have not allowed this association to operate, and according to one of its previous statements, it has 'always been under attack, repression, and slaughter.' Among the pressures exerted by the Iranian government on the Iranian Writers' Association over the past four decades are preventing ceremonies, raiding meetings, repeated summons of members, 'attempts to kill a group of writers by throwing the bus carrying them into a deep valley,' and the murder of several members of the association, including Mohammad Mokhtari and Jafar Pouyandeh.