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Sun, Dec 12, 2010 | The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center [2]
Iranian Young Adults Arrested At Mixed-Gender Party in Tehran
Three soccer players and a coach in Iran’s major soccer league were arrested this week after being caught at a mixed-gender party in Tehran.
Tehran Province internal security forces said that in recent days, the Tehran police had raided four mixed-gender parties in northern Tehran. Fifty young men and women were arrested at one of the parties, including three famous soccer players referred to only by their initials on Iranian news websites: H.K., A.N., and A.P. The police confiscated, among other things, foreign CDs and movies, as well as alcoholic beverages. The case of the arrested soccer players was referred to the judiciary (ISNA, December 5).
The Iranian Soccer Association announced this week that the soccer players caught at the illegal party were immediately suspended and summoned to a disciplinary committee. The website Tabnak reported that it was the second time in recent memory that soccer players were caught taking part in mixed-gender parties.
Internal security forces occasionally raid underground parties attended by a mixed crowd of men and women. In recent months, dozens of young Iranian men and women have been arrested for taking part in various parties in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad, and Shahriar (near Tehran). Mixed-gender parties, where party-goers frequently listen to Western music and even drink alcoholic beverages, have been illegal in Iran since the Islamic revolution.