Source:

July 16, 2010

This week, The Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), received several new reports of arrests of queer Iranians in the city of Shiraz, Iran.

On Sunday July 11th 2010, a private party in a suburb called Podonak was raided. The police lead the raid, accompanied by Basij militia agents and revolutionary guard (Sepah). Reports vary, but we understand that between 17 and 19 people have been arrested and taken to the local intelligent service’s detention center on Modares Boulevard.

Their police files are labeled “Gang of Faggots in Shiraz” and their homes have been raided and personal belongings confiscated by the police. They are to be tried today, in both the Revolutionary and the General Courts, Shiraz.

Since the raid, we have been able to confirm the names of 9 people who have been arrested and labeled as a “Gang of Faggots in Shiraz” and we do not have information about the rest of them.

We understand that the police are going to entrap more queers in Shiraz, Esfahan and Mashhad, and fear that more arrests might take place in the coming days. We advise Iranian queers to be extremely careful with their safety, and to be aware that phones in Iran can and are being tapped. Most queers in Shiraz have deleted their Yahoo IDs, profiles, facebook accounts and other cyber communication. We have heard rumors that a party has been raided in Esfahan, but have not yet confirmed this.

for full story please visit the IRQR websiet at

Arsham Parsi
Executive Director
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Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees  - IRQR
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