Persepolis Most Popular Destination For Iranians During Nowruz

Gholamhossein Karbaschi wrote in a tweet on Sunday “when there are people in the country who do not use yogurt peacefully, how the world can ensure other sensitive capabilities are used peacefully.”

The member of centrist proreform Executives of Construction Party did not explain further, but it seems he was referring to the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic, which Tehran claims to be for "peaceful purposes", but the international community is worried about intentions to build nuclear weapons secretly.

A video from the CCTV of a convenience store in Shandiz near the religious city of Mashhad went viral on social media Friday that showed a man dumping a large tub of yogurt after an argument on the head of a ‘hijabless’ woman and her mother, who was wearing a headscarf.

The man, apparently a member of the Revolutionary Guard Basij militia, had been carrying out his Islamic duty of “calling to virtue and forbidding wrong”. Local authorities said Saturday the man was arrested for disturbing public peace and insulting the women. Officials said that carrying out the duty of hijab enforcement should remain limited to verbal warnings only.

Both women were also arrested for defying hijab rules and the owner of the business was given a warning for allowing violation of the hijab law on his premises.

In an interview with local media on Sunday, Ahmad Mahmoudzadeh called the decision "organizing the language schools", adding that Ali Khamenei has criticized the "content of language books" and demanded a revision.

Regarding Khamenei's criticism, he said "The conversation, pictures or anything else that is presented must be completely in conformity with the Iranian Islamic culture and customs."

Changing the content of textbooks and aligning them with regime ideology, upon Khamenei orders, has been implemented in the past few years, but this is the first time such changes will be applied to textbooks in private language schools.

Mahmoudzadeh also stated that based on Khamenei's preference, the "monopoly of the English language" in the curriculum of schools is supposed to be broken.

In recent years, Khamenei has taken a position against teaching English in Iranian schools.

In 2016, Ali Khamenei harshly criticized the promotion of learning English in Iranian educational institutions. "Now, we have reached a point where teaching the English language is extended to kindergartens and daycares, as well," he retorted.

Immediately after Khamenei's remarks, the Ministry of Education banned English teaching in primary schools.

In a message to congratulate the opening of universities in the new Iranian year on Monday, Deputy Health Minister Abbas Shirojan thanked the students who comply with dress code, and announced the universities of the health ministry will not provide services to students without hijab.

Meanwhile, the education ministry in a separate statement announced that women who do not comply with the compulsory hijab will not be allowed to attend classes.

During the nationwide protests in Iran following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, universities have been the hotbed of protests with hundreds of students were arrested, in addition to targeted poisoning attacks on girls’ schools.

As the regime fights a losing battle against the wave of women participating in a nationwide hijab rebellion, hardliner regime supporters vow more strict measures.

In recent days, dozens of shops and malls where Iranian women continue to flout the regime’s mandatory hijab rules have been closed down across the country with dozens more women arrested.

In the past four decades women generally demonstrated their opposition to compulsory hijab by making their headscarves smaller.

Defiance of hijab rules as a form of civil disobedience ha grown across the country after the death the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of morality police in mid-September.

“Out of respect for the month of Ramadan,” authorities closed parks and blocked roads to northern forests and other locations where people traditionally picnic on this day but videos posted on social media show huge crowds singing and dancing despite the restrictions and even chasing away the government-sponsored vigilantes from their picnic grounds.

In the city of Qazvin, capital of Qazvin province, for instance, the municipality said parks were closed until five in the afternoon, an hour and a half before iftar (the end of fasting day) “for the comfort of citizens and respect for Ramadhan.”

Armed police attacking merrymaking people with tear gas in northern Iran.

Parks were also closed in several other cities including the religious city of Qom and Rasht in Gilan province where many have flocked for the holidays. Even some museums and sightseeing locations were closed for the day in some places such as Kermanshah in western Iran.

Such restrictions did very little to stop people from gathering and dancing wherever they could but at least in one place, on the road to the touristic village of Masouleh in the forested northern mountains of the Caspian Sea region, armed police tried to disperse the merrymaking crowds with tear gas. Social media users said in Tehran the Basij militia tried to prevent people from entering some parks, but the crowds were too big and they had to give way.

This year, many women have taken the opportunity of the secular Nowrouz holiday season to demonstrate their opposition to the government by flouting their hijab and dancing in public as civil disobedience.

Authorities, who have been rattled by mass defiance, responded by shutting down businesses, hotels, cafes and restaurants where “hijabless” women were offered services or sang and danced, often alongside men. In some cases, such as at Kermanshah’s Taq Bostan historical site, authorities prevented “hijabless” women from entering.

People including “hijabless” women celebrating Sidebedar in Rasht in northern Iran

The 13th day of the holidays is called Sizdebedar, or more correctly Sizdah be Dar (casting off [the inauspiciousness] of thirteen].

The regime reluctantly tolerates some of the country’s ancient festivals such as the New Year (Nowruz) and other occasions such as Charshanbeh Souri (Last Tuesday of the old year) and Sizdebedar due to their extreme popularity. Nevertheless, after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 it renamed Sizdebedar as Nature Day because the religious establishment particularly opposed the “superstition” implied by it.

People chasing away government sponsored vigilantes in Anzali from their picnic site.

People should not remain home on this day to avoid the inauspiciousness of the number thirteen according to a tradition of obscure origins. So, they will go out and picnic wherever they can with food and music and dancing.

But this year, the Iranian New Year holidays (Nowrouz) coincided with the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

In Iran and some other Islamic countries eating, drinking, and smoking in public are strictly banned during the fasting month. Many Iranians who fast during Ramadan, and many others who do not, nevertheless, believe that such restrictions are pointless and even unfair.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement the aircraft it downed did not pose a threat at any stage.

Israel has for years carried out attacks against what it has described as Iran-linked targets in Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israel conducted six strikes in Syrian territory in March alone.

Israel conducted three missile and air strikes from Thursday to Sunday on targets in Syria housing Iranian IRGC and proxy military forces.

Iran announced that two of its "military advisers" in Syria were killed in these attacks and warned that it would retaliate.

Israel has been regularly attacking targets in Syria since 2017 to weaken Iran's attempts to strengthen its military presence in the war-torn country and build up a threat on Israel's northern borders.

Iran has considerable drone capabilities that it has used against US bases in Syria as recently as last month, killing a US contractor and injuring at least eight US servicemen.

Iran's government spokesman, Ali Bahadori-Jahromi, tweeted Sunday that Israel's "terrorist acts will not remain unanswered."

Iran had also called on Palestinian militants to "use the opportunity" of internal political tensions in Israel to harm the "Zionist enemy."