Iran detains activists after visit to ancient Persian king’s tomb

Iranian authorities have detained several organizers of an annual pilgrimage marking the birth of the pre-Islamic King Cyrus the Great that turned into a mass protest against the restrictive policies of the Tehran government.

Fars province prosecutor Ali Salehi said Monday the activists were detained over “norm-breaking and anti-values” slogans that were chanted during the gathering last week, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Salehi did not elaborate on the number of detainees.

According to social media posts, the thousands attending the gathering at the tomb of Cyrus demanded freedom of thought from the Islamic government.

“Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father,” and “Freedom of thought impossible with the mullahs,” protesters can be heard chanting in video clips uploaded online.

Other videos from the rally showed Iranians shouting: “Clerical rule is synonymous with only tyranny, only war,” and “No Gaza, no Lebanon, my life for Iran.”

Thousands took part in protest gathering in Pasargade,site of tomb of Cyrus the Greatm chanting “#Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father" pic.twitter.com/aSCB6CUjuT

— Shahin Gobadi (@gobadi) October 28, 2016

Every October, Iranians gather to celebrate at Cyrus’ tomb in the town of Pasargad, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) south of Tehran.

Clerics who came to power after the 1979 Islamic Revolution generally reject the celebration of pre-Islamic icons.

In the days leading up to the October 28 pilgrimage, Iranian authorities took measures to discourage attendance at the nationalist gathering, the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement.

The NCRI, an Iranian parliament in exile, said reported that roads to Pasargad were closed, internet access in the southern city was limited, and plainclothes security forces were stationed near the site of the tomb.

AP contributed to this report.