- Officers arrested 140 of the partygoers in a garden on the outskirts of Tehran
- Another 90 were arrested in the city’s uptown district on Thursday night
- Drinking alcohol and mixed parties of unrelated men and women are illegal and considered a sin under Islamic law in Iran
Iranian police detained 230 boys and girls at separate parties in the capital Tehran on Thursday night.
Officers arrested 140 of the young partygoers in a garden on the outskirts of Tehran and 90 in the city’s uptown while dancing and drinking alcohol, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Friday.
Drinking alcohol and mixed parties of unrelated men and women are illegal and considered a sin under Islamic law in Iran.
The report said some participants posted an invitation to others to join on Instagram and police arrested them.
Iran has been on a decades-long crackdown against influences of Western culture. Pictured: President of Iran Hassan Rouhani
ISNA also said some alcoholic beverages and psychotropic drugs were confiscated.
The latest arrests come after six young people were detained in Iran for promoting Zumba dance exercises in August, in the town of Shahroud, about 250 miles east of Tehran.
The suspects were said to have published videos of Zumba moves and exercises on social networks – and encouraged young women to take off their Islamic head-covering in public places.
Iran has been on a decades-long crackdown against influences of Western culture. In June, it banned Zumba and other exercises considered un-Islamic.
Under the law, women in Iran should cover their hair and avoid figure-hugging attire.