Iranian police arrested 120 people for ‘drinking’ and ‘mixed dancing’ at an ‘illegal’ party held in a forest in Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran, media reported on Sunday. of state.
The revelers “have been arrested by the vice police and a lawsuit has been filed”, said the head of the province’s judiciary, Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, quoted by state television IRIB.
According to Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, “criminal acts” committed in a forest in the town of Neka included “drinking, illicit relationships, mixed dancing and not wearing the hijab”. Many Iranians wishing to escape the chaos of city life find themselves in the north of the country for nature getaways and leisure activities.
Mandatory hijab
But according to Islamic law in force in Iran since the 1979 revolution, women must wear a hijab that covers the head, neck and hides their hair. And only non-Muslim citizens are allowed to consume alcohol in religious ceremonies, while dancing with the opposite sex is banned.
In April, Iranian police arrested three young women after a video emerged online showing them dancing in a cemetery. Dancing between people of the same sex is not a crime in Iran, but legal experts say that if a person dances in public or on the internet in a way considered to violate public decency, they can be prosecuted.