WarSclerotic

5 Ways the Iranian Regime Is Crushing Dissent, Clarion Project, May 29, 2016

(Illustrative photo; Wikimedia Commons)

1. Iranian authorities arrested 30 young people (including one woman) at a private graduation party in a villa in Qazvin. In an unusual move, a special court was convened the next day where the defendants were sentenced to 99 lashes each and the punishment was carried out immediately.

In Karmon, another 23 people, including a famous artist, were arrested at a party in a park.

The Iranian authorities’ crack down on mixed parties – which often include alcohol and mixed dancing – is a response to a perceived “Westernization” of Iran’s strict Islamist culture imposed on the population after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Extremists fear that the nuclear deal forged by Iran’s “moderate” president, Hassan, Rouhani, will open Iran to unwanted influences.

2. The campaign against house parties follows a similar campaign against beauty salons, which recently saw police raid these establishments in search of (forbidden) male workers as well as those giving and receiving “Western” haircuts.

3. An Iranian court announced the arrest of eight people and charged them with making and broadcasting inappropriate music videos, according to Al-Hayat newspaper. The videos were broadcast on a satellite TV channel based outside of Iran that is considered to be anti-regime.

4. Seventeen Iranian miners who protested losing their jobs were given 30-100 lashes each for instigating the demonstration. The miners were also fined and given prison sentences.

The men worked at a gold mine in the Western Azerbaijan Province and were part of a group of 350 employees who were fired from their jobs, prompting a large demonstration at the time.

Of the 17, five received 100 lashes, another five received 50 lashes, and the remaining seven received 30 lashes for their part in the protests.

5. Last week, Iran chose as head of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati . Described as the most radical hard-line cleric in Iran, Jannati will have the power to select the Ayatollah Khamenei’s successor, among other influential responsibilites. A few choice quotes from Jannati include:

“You cried: ‘Death to the Shah,’ and indeed, he died. You cried: ‘Death to Israel,’ and it is now on its deathbed. You cry: ‘Death to America,’ and before long, Allah willing, the prayer for the dead will be recited over it.”

“‘Death to America’ [is] the first option on our table… This is the slogan of our entire people without exception. This is our number one slogan.”

This entry was posted on May 29, 2016 at 5:30 PM and is filed under Iran - human rights. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Iran - human rights