TEHRAN, May 28 (UPI) — More than 30 Iranian college students were arrested and given 99 lashes after they attended a co-ed graduation party, Iran’s judiciary announced.
Prosecutor Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki said the women were described as “half naked,” meaning they were not wearing Islamic coverings, scarves and long coats, and “dancing and jubilating.”
The prosecutor said authorities don’t tolerate “law-breakers who use excuses such as freedom and having fun in birthday parties and graduation ceremonies,” the Mizan News Agency reported.
The authorities received a report that a party attended was being held in a villa on the outskirts of Qazvin, about 90 miles northwest of the capital.
“We hope this will be a lesson for those who break Islamic norms in private places,” Niaraki said.
The report by Iran’s Mizan News Agency didn’t say when the party occurred or give the students’ names, ages or schools.
Lashings had been punishment since the Islamic revolution of 1979, but lately it’s been more of a threat.
One day earlier, the state news media reported raids on parties in Kerman and at a “singles home” in Semnan, both provincial capitals.
Iran’s judiciary earlier arrested eight people involved in online modeling without heads coverings and questioned a former model on state television.
