Iran arrests 132 for partying, drinking alcohol

Iranian police have arrested 132 men and women, some of them alleged bisexuals, a judiciary website said Friday, in the latest crackdown on partygoers accused of breaking Islamic rules.

On Thursday night police in Tehran arrested “more than 70 drunk men and women at a restaurant in Farahzad,” on the capital’s northwestern outskirts, Mizan Online reported.

The news agency later quoted police as saying there were 40 men and 30 women, including 26 men and six women who tested positive for alcohol.

“Six bisexuals were identified among those arrested,” it said.

Drinking alcohol and dancing with the opposite sex are forbidden in the Islamic republic.

In addition, “62 men and women were arrested at another party in Bandar Abbas,” a southern port city, Mizan said without giving a date.

Last week, Iran arrested eight people accused of involvement in making “obscene” music videos.

It came days after more than 30 students partying at a graduation ceremony in northern Iran were arrested and given 99 lashes each for violating the country’s morality code.

On May 16, Iran also announced the arrest of eight people for working in “un-Islamic” online modeling networks, particularly on the photosharing app Instagram.

The crackdown comes despite moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s effort to allow greater social and cultural freedom.

Tehran police chief announced in April the recruitment of 7,000 plainclothes police in the capital to fight against “immorality”.

The officers are responsible for monitoring and reporting “noise, harassment of women and women’s lack of Islamic veil inside cars,” he said.