According to the Telegraph Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam, a commander with the state security forces, warned that “buying and selling fireworks is illegal, and the police the police will severely confront offenders on the basis of the law.”
Bahman Kargar, another security official, told state television that “more than 3,059,000 fireworks have been confiscated and 65 individuals distributing such material have been arrested.”
Police were stretched to breaking point by the last major round of protests, which were held on March 10.
Hamid Farokhnia, a Tehran-based journalist, reported that “hundreds of children as young as 14 had to be deployed with batons and helmets.”
Iran’s government first moved against the spring festival last year, following a wave of protests against the controversial 2009 presidential elections, deploying hundreds of riot police and Islamist militiamen on Tehran’s streets to force city residents to tone down their celebrations.
Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei, the country’s supreme leader, had urged Iranians to shun the festival, saying it was un-Islamic and causes “a lot of harm.”
source:
http://www.freedomessenger.com/?p=24954
