Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 30, 2019 – The Instagram accounts of several street music groups were blocked by the cyber police in Iran, according to a May 24 report posted on the state-run Tabnak website, an outlet affiliate to former Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) chief Mohsen Rezaie, now Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council.
A message from the repressive mullahs’ judiciary was sent to each of these groups’ Instagram accounts saying that “due to criminal contents”, this Instagram account has been blocked and the “individuals involved in these crimes” will be prosecuted.
The cyber police in Iran, commonly known as FATA based on the Farsi acronym of its name, issued a statement announcing an investigative decree has been issued against the operators of these blocked Instagram accounts.
The cyber police did not discuss details of the so-called “crime” perpetrated by these individuals. However, photos of the blocked accounts that appeared on other Instagram accounts showed the musicians playing musical instruments on the street sidewalks with no sign of any “crime.”
As recently as May 17, Negar Moazzam, a female singer, was placed under surveillance by the Prosecutor’s Office in Isfahan Province, central Iran, for her solo singing during a sightseeing tour to a local historical village.
“The preliminary questioning regarding Moazam’s case has been filed upon the report of the intelligence police for public security, and the Prosecutor of Natanz is following up on the case,” the Isfahan prosecutor announced on May 21.
Instagram is so far the only western social media platform tolerated by the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran. However, the mullahs’ repressive cyber police, under the ridiculous accusation of “criminality or criminal content,” reportedly block many Instagram accounts. The owners of those accounts are thus arrested.
This clip shows a street music group performing for the bypassers to receive some money to make the ends meet when apparently a couple of Basij militants attack the group taking their instruments with them.
The clerical regime carried out one of its latest series of arrests targeting online modeling. The state-run Tasnim news agency, affiliated to the terrorist-designated Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force, reported on May 18 that the arrests took place in Iran’s Markazi (Central) Province. It did not mention how many people were detained but did indicate they had been handed over to the Iranian regime’s judiciary for questioning.
