{"id":663835,"date":"2026-11-01T17:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663835\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T17:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T17:52:09","slug":"iran-halloween-party-broken-up-by-security-forces-attendees-reportedly-beaten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663835\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Halloween party broken up by security forces, attendees reportedly beaten"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iranians defied the Islamic regime over the past week by dressing up in costumes and celebrating Halloween<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Nazanin Nour, an Iranian-American actress and writer, pushed back against such claims online, writing that the \u201cpeople of Iran push boundaries at their own risk (which very much still exists because repression is codified into law); it\u2019s not that the boundaries are being eased by the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Young people wearing makeup and costumes were also dispersed by the Basij after gathering near Tehran\u2019s Artists Park, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like the protests. They were running after people and shouting, \u2018Disperse!\u2019\u201d a witness told Iran International, describing how families were ordered to flee.<\/p>\n

In footage shared online, several women can also be seen defying the Islamic Republic\u2019s<\/a> 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\u2019s mandatory hijab laws and efforts to redeploy morality police across the country.<\/p>\n

Restrictions with no basis in law<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Isal Caf\u00e9 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 \u201cIslamic proprieties\u201d as the reason for the decision.<\/p>\n

The Cultural Heritage Department in the city of Aran va Bidgol also prohibited Halloween celebrations, citing the need to preserve \u201cIslamic and Iranian values.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 caf\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Republic has frequently cracked down on gothic and alternative subcultures, labeling them \u201csatanic.\u201d Even before the latest wars with Israel and the crackdown on January\u2019s protests, during which tens of thousands of people were reportedly killed by regime security forces, shops accused of selling clothing bearing \u201cunconventional logos and symbols\u201d had faced threats of closure.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone protests individually\u2019<\/p>\n

Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at INSS<\/a>, told\u00a0The Jerusalem Post that he believed Halloween had grown in size and significance in Iran this year, describing it as a kind of cultural protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to music, playing music in the streets, going without hijab, all these clips that you see, it\u2019s kind of a protest,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t even know if they want to be in a huge protest. So everyone protests individually.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iranians defied the Islamic regime over the past week by dressing up in costumes and celebrating Halloween despite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65274,38530,42,38190,87,43,52,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-663835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-costume","tag-halloween","tag-headlines","tag-inss","tag-iran","tag-news","tag-protests","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}