The raids, conducted during the past two weeks, uncovered several organised child prostitution rings running the brothels.
Many runaway girls, some as young as 13, were being forced into prostitution by these gangs. Iran Focus
The raids, conducted during the past two weeks, uncovered several organised child prostitution rings running the brothels.
Many runaway girls, some as young as 13, were being forced into prostitution by these gangs.
A number of officers from Irans notorious State Security Forces (SSF) and commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were also arrested in the brothels.
The heads of a number of local government departments and institutions, including the head of the Neka branch of the Ministry of Telecommunications were among those rounded up in the raids.
The girls have also been arrested pending judicial sentencing.
Last August, Atefeh Rajabi, a 16-year-old girl in this town, was publicly hanged for what the religious judge called acts incompatible with chastity.
Atefeh died in front of residents in this industrial town near the Caspian Sea on August 15, after suffering years of brutal violence, exploitation and torture in the hands of local officials including some of those arrested in the recent raids.
When Iran Focus broke the news of her execution and revealed the abuse she suffered at the hands of local officials, the Iranian government vehemently denied the report as sheer lies.
The religious judge who ordered the execution put the rope around Atefehs neck and later received a letter of congratulations from the towns governor, commending him for his firm approach.
Atefeh had no access to a lawyer at any stage and her death sentence was upheld by a Supreme Court that is dominated by fundamentalist mullahs. Haji Rezaii, the religious judge, was reportedly so incensed with Atefehs sharp tongue during the trial that he travelled to Tehran to convince the clerics of the Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence.
