AFP: Iranian police said on Thursday they have arrested 20 young people in a raid on party in the city of Karaj outside Tehran, the site of an illegal rock concert last week where 230 were detained. TEHRAN, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) – Iranian police said on Thursday they have arrested 20 young people in a raid on party in the city of Karaj outside Tehran, the site of an illegal rock concert last week where 230 were detained.
Police Colonel Majid Bazmun told the state IRNA news agency that police surrounded the building where the “decadent gathering” was taking place after acting on a tip-off from a member of the public.
“All the people who attended the party were arrested by the police forces. The case will be handed over to the judiciary when the investigation has been completed,” he added.
The latest action come a week after police arrested 230 people in a raid on a “Satan-worshipping” underground rock concert in Karaj, in one of the biggest such arrests in recent months.
There has been no further information over the fate of those arrested at the rock concert.
Iran is currently in the midst of one of its tightest moral crackdowns in years, which has already seen thousands of women warned by the police for dressing that is deemed to be unIslamic.
Mixed-sex parties are strictly illegal in Iran. It is forbidden to consume alcohol in public or private and attend gatherings with improperly-clad members of the opposite sex. Dancing to Western music is also frowned upon.
Iran’s overall police chief Esmaeel Ahmadi Moghaddam said that the moral crackdown, dubbed the drive to “elevate security in society”, would continue as it had proved popular with the public.
“With respect to the evaluation of the police and people’s satisfaction the plan to elevate security in society will be pursued with full force,” he told the Mehr news agency.
“The plan of elevating social security, which has been imposed in different phases, has made people feel more secure in society and increased people’s confidence in the police,” he added.
