Eyewitnesses told Iran International that security forces cleared a Halloween party on a central Tehran street on Friday evening, hitting and detaining participants and forcing neighboring cafes to close.
Costumed young people had gathered on Iranshahr Street beside Artists Park when police shut the road. Basij members, from a paramilitary force tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), then arrived with personnel dressed as civilians to disperse the crowd.
Families in the park were also ordered out, an eyewitness said, as officers told them to run and pickup trucks, Basij members and plainclothes personnel crowded the area.
"It was like the protests. They were running after people and shouting, 'Disperse!'" said the witness.
Video: The mullahs were furious: Halloween celebrations on a main street in Tehran | Social media
The witness saw people being arrested on Iranshahr Street, and Iran International received further information that several were beaten and cafes were closed. People carrying Islamic Republic flags were seen in another part of the street. How many were detained or hurt is unclear.
The Chamber of Guilds, a national body overseeing trade associations, had barred Halloween celebrations in public venues and businesses, warning cafes, restaurants and other hospitality establishments of closure and legal action for hosting or advertising them. The ban was meant to protect the country's "cultural, religious and social values."
Despite official opposition, Halloween has grown steadily more popular with younger Iranians, and officials have time and again tried to curb its celebration. The Chamber issued a similar ban in October last year, threatening closure of violators and referral of managers to judicial authorities.
The provinces of Qazvin and Yazd likewise saw official moves against Halloween celebrations. Prosecutor Mehdi Hassanpour said organizers in Yazd and Ardakan were summoned and a venue sealed after complaints about women without mandatory hijab and men and women attending a party together, per the judiciary's provincial public relations office, cited by Didban Iran. In Qazvin, police said Saturday that 19 businesses were shut down, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Reza Esmailpour, who heads the provincial police department overseeing public businesses, said the establishments had published Halloween-related images, and that legal proceedings had begun to stop what police described as Western culture and lifestyles.
Iranian news website Rouydad24 criticized the crackdown in a Friday article titled "The government's battle with the pumpkin." The outlet asked: "What is the benefit of a security crackdown on people's lifestyles?"
It framed the curbs as part of a broader policy of confronting the cultural preferences of younger Iranians. "Despite years of threats, warnings and business closures, this celebration remains popular among the younger generation," Rouydad24 wrote.
The outlet added that the holiday's popularity reflects a cultural divide that bans and police action have failed to narrow.
The latest incident comes amid tighter enforcement of social restrictions, including rules on dress and public gatherings, as Iran faces the economic and political pressures of its war with the US.
