Police efforts to prevent Cyrus Day from being held; from summons and pledges to deploying forces on Pasargad Road
On the eve of Aban 7, Cyrus Day, reports indicate that the police are trying to prevent any ceremonies and public presence in Pasargadae.
Some images and news published on social media on Monday, November 26, show that many officers are present on the roads leading to Pasargadae and that checkpoints have been set up along this route.
Meanwhile, attorney Mohammad Hossein Aghasi tweeted on Monday that he and a number of other citizens had been forced to pledge to the police not to participate in any ceremonies related to Cyrus Day. Mr. Aghasi called this action a "negation of national pride."
In previous years, Iranian authorities have also closed roads leading to Pasargadae in Fars Province on the eve of Cyrus Day. The Judiciary News Agency announced in 2017 that Basij forces were scheduled to hold exercises in that area at the same time.
Last year, Brian Hook, the US State Department's Iran affairs officer, said, referring to the security crackdown on the Cyrus the Great commemoration, "It is entirely appropriate and fitting that the Iranian people want to honor that legacy. Cyrus is much more reflective of the Iranian people than this regime."
The 7th of Aban, known as the day of Cyrus' entry into Babylon, is unofficially called Cyrus Day, although this occasion is not recorded in any calendar.
However, in recent years, large crowds have gathered around his tomb in Pasargadae on this day. The 2016 gathering, which reached thousands, aroused the sensitivities of the government and traditional clerics.
In the films sent to the Voice of America at the time, the attendees chanted: "Iran is our homeland, Cyrus is our father."
Source: Voice of America
