At least 20 cafes sealed following recent youth gathering in Shiraz

HRANA News Agency – At least 20 cafes in Shiraz have been sealed by order of the city’s facilities department. These measures were taken following a recent gathering of a number of teenagers in the city.

According to HRANA news agency, citing Rokna, at least 20 cafes in Shiraz were sealed by order of the city's facilities department.

Following a recent gathering of a number of teenagers and their holding of a program titled "World Skateboard Day" at the Shiraz City Conference Grounds, which resulted in the arrest of 10 of its organizers, various demands were made by the responsible authorities to impose further restrictions in the city; in this regard, the Department of Places has sealed off a number of cafes that were meeting places for teenagers and young people in the city.

According to this report, Blue Cafe, Cafe 404, Ben Keto Restaurant, Genius Cafe, and Bookland Shiraz are among the most famous cafes that have been sealed by order of the city's facilities department.

A cafe owner in Shirazi, whose business premises were sealed without any justification, said in this regard: "One day they came at 2 o'clock and said they would come at midnight to seal them. They came and closed the cafe without any letter or reason. They just announced that it was temporarily closed. Now we don't know when this temporary closure will end."

Police encounters with young people in this city have increased, and the presence of officers is clearly visible throughout the city at most hours.

The report quotes an informed source as saying: "Police have been deployed in Qasr al-Dasht and the strictness has increased significantly. In Ma'ali Abad, plainclothes officers are confronting "bad hijab wearers" on the sidewalk. Chamran Boulevard is also full of law enforcement officers."

This year's World Skateboard Day was a turning point in the escalation of strictures in Shiraz and several other cities in Iran. Officials of every department and organization that thought their scope and duties were even slightly related to the youth gathering in Shiraz, declared their innocence in the early hours of the action of the Shirazi teenagers.

In the first action, the head of the Fars provincial skating committee was dismissed. The General Directorate of Sports and Youth of Fars also claimed in a statement addressed to the people of Shiraz: "The General Directorate and the Shiraz Department of Sports and Youth have had no permission, participation, or cooperation at any level with the founders and organizers of this community."

The Shiraz municipality also denied in a statement that it had issued any permits to invite citizens to the skaters' gathering. The Shiraz governor called the move "premeditated," and the head of the Fars provincial judiciary issued an order to deal with those responsible for organizing the gathering.

The representative of Khomeini Shahr also called for action against the teenagers who participated in the Shiraz rally a few days ago, saying: "Both legally and religiously, we have a clear law on this matter, and justifications such as these that these gatherings were permitted will not be denied."

Mohammad Taqi Naqdali also responded to the question of whether there is a problem with arresting teenagers: “It is completely without a problem. If we want to be considered by foreigners, counter-revolutionaries, and foreign media for any legal action and to protect and safeguard the dignity, honor, modesty, and chastity of society, we must retreat from the framework of the Islamic Revolution.”

A few days later, a picture was posted online showing a group of men and women praying a “fear prayer” at a skater gathering. To this day, no official source has confirmed or denied the photo. In this regard, the state news agency reported a gathering and march by “supporters of modesty, zeal, and hijab” in Shiraz due to what it called “hurting the feelings of religious people.” The march was held after Friday prayers.

The wave of concerns has also reached women's hair salons in Shiraz. The manager of a women's hair salon in Farhang-e-Shahr, Shiraz, said: "The atmosphere has become so heavy that we give customers time with fear. We cannot ask customers to be a little more careful about their clothing when going out, they will be upset. But at any moment, an officer from the premises with a sealed label may knock on the salon door."

He added: "I always go out in a coat. My clothes are completely covered. But I am very upset since I saw so many officers on the street last night. When a person sees these things, they get so angry that they might react. Are you praying for the young people of the people? Aren't you saying that they think they are a patchwork and are getting frustrated?"

It is worth noting that since the aforementioned date, the number of arrests and text messages about car impoundments due to uncovering the hijab has also increased. The judicial authorities' emphasis on dealing with the "factors" of the 1980s Shirazi gathering also indicates that there is no hope of an end to these strictures, at least in the near future.