Iranians# arrested after celebrating# ancient Persian# king Cyrus the Great#

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, a revered King of the Persian Empire at Pasargadae outside Shiraz

Reuters, Oct 31, 2016 - Iran's Islamic Republic has arrested the organizers of a march last week near the tomb of the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great that attracted thousands of people celebrating the country's pre-Islamic glory.

Crowds of mostly young Iranians attended the march near the ancient city of Pasargadae in the central province of Fars on Friday to celebrate the day unofficially marked in the Iranian calendar as Cyrus Day.
Videos released on social media show them chanting 'Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father.' Reuters could not independently verify the videos' authenticity.
'The main leaders and organizers of this gathering who chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic have been arrested,' said prosecutor Ali Salehi in the provincial capital Shiraz on Monday, according to Fars news agency.
A senior Shi'ite cleric, Nouri Hamedani, denounced the gathering and its participants on Sunday.
'These people are against the Revolution. I wonder how they can gather around Cyrus's tomb and chant the same slogans (about Cyrus) that we chant about our supreme leader,' Fars quoted him as saying. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has both the highest religious and political power in Iran.

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