The arrests took place in Tehran’s Sorkheh Hesar National Park, east of Tehran, and was carried out by the IRGC’s para-military Bassij force.  They were acting on a warrant issued by the regime’s Judiciary, and signed by Tehran’s deputy prosecutor.

The young people had committed the crimes of dancing and partying, and further, the report states that the young women had violated the Islamic dress code.The party is reported to have been organized on social media, by a “prime suspect” identified only as Fariborz G.

Shahin Gobadi, of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said,  “The clerical regime has never been so isolated at home and loathed by the Iranian people, in particular by the youth and women. As such, it is resorting to more and more repressive measures to confront this growing trend. This once again proves that the notion of moderation under Hassan Rouhani is a total myth. But it also indicates the vulnerable and shaky state of a regime that cannot even tolerate private festivities of the people, particularly the youth. It is becoming more evident that the mullahs are totally paranoid of any social gathering in fear of a popular uprising.”

Similar raids have been carried out on mixed-gender parties across Iran in recent months.

 The regime arrested 150 boys and girls for attending a mixed-gender birthday party near the capital Tehran, just last month.  According to Colonel Mohsen Khancherli, the regime’s police commander for the west of Tehran Province, those arrests took place at an overnight party in a garden in the vicinity of Islamshahr, south-west of Tehran. He told Tasnim News,”After we obtained a report about a mixed-gender party in a garden in the vicinity of Islamshahr in the west of Tehran Province, an operation was carried out by the police and another organization, leading to the arrest of dozens of boys and girls.”

Given the popularity of gardens in the west of Tehran Province, “With the arrival of summer, the police surveillance at these sites will be stepped up,” Khancherli added.

The news days earlier reported that more than 50 young Iranians were arrested on July 22 at a party in the town of Davamand, east of Tehran.  Tasnim News reported Mojtaba Vahedi, the head of the regime’s judiciary in Damavand, as saying that the organizers of the party had invited people to attend via online social networks. He added, “Families must be more vigilant regarding their children to make sure they do not end up in such circumstances.”

This past May, some 35 young men and women were flogged for taking part in a mixed-gender graduation party near Qazvin city, some 140 kilometers northwest of Tehran.

Ismaeil Sadeqi Niaraki said, “After we received information that a large number of men and women were mingling in a villa in the suburbs of Qazvin … all the participants at the party were arrested.”  A special court session was held after all the young men and women at the party were rounded up, and every one of those detained received 99 lashes as punishment by the so-called ‘Morality Police.’

According to Niaraki, given the social significance of mixed-gender partying, “this once again required a firm response by the judiciary in quickly reviewing and implementing the law.”  The regime’s prosecutor claimed that the judiciary would not tolerate the actions of “law-breakers who use excuses such as freedom and having fun in birthday parties and graduation ceremonies.”