In order to intimidate the public, the clerical regime has in recent days stepped up the number of executions carried out in public.

Three youngsters, Ali and Yousef Vafa'i and Mohammad Shokrzadeh, were hanged in public on Saturday, June 10, in Mahdasht in Karaj, west of Tehran.

The same day, a 17-year-old boy by the name of Kayvan Najafi and another teenager, Anoushirvan Reza'i, were sentenced to death in Tehran. The state-controlled daily Ressalat reported another execution on Thursday, June 8.
 

Crackdown on Students, Reuters, June 13

TEHRAN - A student group protested against a judicial crackdown on Iran's student movement in a statement made available to Reuters on Tuesday. The United Students' Front, an umbrella group of some student groups, said that Mohammad Hassan Jalili, a member of the front, had been summoned by the Revolutionary Court.

Five Front members remain in detention since the student demonstrations that shocked Iran's conservative establishment last July.

A further 12 were being interrogated in connection with unsanctioned rallies, the statement said. Many members of another student body, the Office to Foster Unity have also been summoned to the feared Revolutionary Court in recent days.

The recent crackdown has also had repercussions outside the capital city of Tehran. Scores of people were arrested recently in city of Mashhad after taking part in a rally after a speech there by Khatami.
 

Iranian Youth Resist Mullahs' Regime, Agence France Presse, June 6

On the shores of the Caspian Sea, the Islamic Republic's strict social guardians are facing a tough challenge. They are in charge of enforcing the separation of men and women on the beach.

The tensions came to a head last week in the coastal town of Dariakenar, when Basijis, Iran's religious militia, reprimanded a group that had gone for a late night swim.

After the Basijis protested, surveillance has been stepped up at the resort and local authorities are keeping track of beach-goers' identities.

In Alamdeh, another Caspian resort, the sexes are divided in another way -- men in the morning, women in the afternoon. The lifeguard is a man. But he spends his afternoons out on the street. If an emergency arises on the beach, a woman comes out to fetch him.
 

Divorce Rate Up in Iran, Agence France Presse, June 6

TEHRAN - Divorces in Iran hit a record high in the month up to April 20, with nearly 3,000 couples untying the knot, an Iranian paper reported Tuesday.

The rise in divorce figures can also be explained by the phenomenon of "temporary marriage" which is encouraged by the Iranian religious authorities.

Under a "temporary contract" a man, married or not, can take a wife for a pre-arranged period.
 

Drugs Wreaking Havoc on Iranian Society, The Globe And Mail, June 7

Tehran -- "… It's so easy to find opium in Tehran -- it's like a dinner table waiting for you. At every party, opium is the entertainment. You can purchase it at news stands, at bus terminals, anywhere."

Ibrahim soon discovered that opium and heroin addicts were everywhere around him. He began selling some of his drugs to other users. "When you get into drugs, you realize that your neighbor, your friend or your relative is also addicted." … At least 1.2 million Iranians are addicted to drugs...

The effect on Iranian society has been catastrophic. Hundreds of drug-related deaths are reported every year. Two-thirds of Iran's prisoners are drug addicts or traffickers. Of the 2,200 officially registered carriers of AIDS, two-thirds became infected by sharing needles…

Iran's booming population and rising youth unemployment is another major factor. Two-thirds of its population are under the age of 30, and most are jobless and bored…

The phenomenon is compounded by the decline of religious fervor and social solidarity as the Islamic revolution fades into history.

But many addicts say the Islamic regime itself was a factor…

Addiction is increasingly seen as an illness, rather than a crime. Opium and heroin are discussed openly in the Iranian media.

This openness has also brought the rapid growth of treatment centers. But many seem to be commercial enterprises, exploiting the drug epidemic for their own gain. Even worse, some clinics promise a cure with a few mysterious pills, often based on opium itself.

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