The Islamic Regime forced a cafe in central Tehran to close over allegations the business promoted “satanic” activities, according to state-affiliated media reports on Sunday.
The cafe was said to have allowed events featuring Western-style music that “provided a setting for abnormal behaviors,” Fars News Agency, the semi-official state mouthpiece reported.
Similarly, the Mehr news agency reported that police accused the cafe’s clients of engaging in “satanic movements.”
Ben Sabti, an Iran expert and researcher at INSS, told The Jerusalem Post that he had seen reports indicating the regime was recommitted to enforcing its conservative policies, even renewing its hijab enforcement.
Violations of 'law and sharia'
Notably, earlier this month, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency retracted an article that included photos of a woman without a head covering. Iran’s judiciary had summoned the managing editor of IRNA, complaining the images violated “law and sharia.”
Sabti theorized that this was tied to the war dying down and, therefore, no longer needing to portray a liberal image for sympathetic Western media.
He predicted that with the cultural crackdowns and the rapidly increasing prices of basic medicine and food, Iranians would soon return to protests, despite the risk of the repeated mass casualty events seen during the January suppression of protests.