Iran arrests 'network of homosexuals and satanists' at birthday party

Iran’s revolutionary guards have announced the arrest of “a network of homosexuals and satanists”in the western city of Kermanshah, close to the country’s border with Iraq, prompting fresh alarm over the treatment of gay people in the Islamic republic.

The news website of the revolutionary guards in Kermanshah province, home to the country’s Kurd ethnic minority, reported on Thursday that their elite forces had dismantled what it claimed to be a network of homosexuals and devil-worshippers.

A number of foreign nationals, including Iraqis, were also among those detained, the report said, adding that eight of the group were married to each other.

The group were picked up from one of the city’s ceremony halls, which they had rented for a birthday party. The guards’ website said they were dancing as the raid ensued.

The revolutionary guards claimed the group had been under surveillance for some time but did not specify how many people were arrested.

Authorities in the Islamic republic have previously likened homosexuals to satanists in an apparent attempt to further smear them in the eyes of the country’s religious conservatives.

I have been informed that the raid took place on Tuesday night when some 80 people, including both straight and gay Iranians, had gathered for a birthday party in Kermanshah. At least 17 people who had tattoos, make-up, or were wearing rainbow bracelets were blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, according to a local source. Partygoers were filmed by the elite forces and had their mobile phones confiscated.