Iranians defied the Islamic regime over the past week by dressing up in costumes and celebrating Halloween despite restrictions and warnings, according to Iranian media reports and videos of the festivities shared online. Several people were reportedly detained and beaten for taking part in the celebrations.
While some Western advocates have used footage of the celebrations to argue that claims about repression in the Islamic Republic are Western propaganda, Iranians have stressed that the festivities took place despite the regime, not because it is becoming more lenient.
Nazanin Nour, an Iranian-American actress and writer, pushed back against such claims online, writing that the “people of Iran push boundaries at their own risk (which very much still exists because repression is codified into law); it’s not that the boundaries are being eased by the regime.”
Iranian security forces and plainclothes officers broke up a celebration in central Tehran on Friday, Iran International reported, citing witnesses. Several participants were reportedly beaten and detained.
Young people wearing makeup and costumes were also dispersed by the Basij after gathering near Tehran’s Artists Park, according to the report.
“It was like the protests. They were running after people and shouting, ‘Disperse!’” a witness told Iran International, describing how families were ordered to flee.
In footage shared online, several women can also be seen defying the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code by leaving their hair uncovered and exposing parts of their legs. The celebrations come amid a renewed crackdown on violations of Iran’s mandatory hijab laws and efforts to redeploy morality police across the country.
Restrictions with no basis in law
The Iranian legal advocacy network Dadbaan warned earlier this week that new restrictions had been imposed on Halloween celebrations in several cities, prompting a number of cultural centers to cancel planned events. Isfahan’s Isal Café and the Madam and Monsieur Mansion were among the venues that issued cancellation notices. Staff at the Madam and Monsieur Mansion specifically cited compliance with the law and “Islamic proprieties” as the reason for the decision.
The Cultural Heritage Department in the city of Aran va Bidgol also prohibited Halloween celebrations, citing the need to preserve “Islamic and Iranian values.”
Dadbaan emphasized that no law in Iran prohibits the sale of Halloween-related goods and items, the holding of celebrations, or the use of themed decorations in restaurants and cafés.
The Islamic Republic has frequently cracked down on gothic and alternative subcultures, labeling them “satanic.” Even before the latest wars with Israel and the crackdown on January’s protests, during which tens of thousands of people were reportedly killed by regime security forces, shops accused of selling clothing bearing “unconventional logos and symbols” had faced threats of closure.
‘Everyone protests individually’
Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at INSS, told The Jerusalem Post that he believed Halloween had grown in size and significance in Iran this year, describing it as a kind of cultural protest.
“Listening to music, playing music in the streets, going without hijab, all these clips that you see, it’s kind of a protest,” he said. “They don’t even know if they want to be in a huge protest. So everyone protests individually.”
He noted that this year the costumes had become more daring, with masks and more gothic costumes, as opposed to the cat and mouse costumes seen in previous years.
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
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