Iranian authorities have detained several organizers of an annual pilgrimage marking the birth of the pre-Islamic King Cyrus the Great that turned into a mass protest against the restrictive policies of the Tehran government.

Fars province prosecutor Ali Salehi said Monday the activists were detained over “norm-breaking and anti-values” slogans that were chanted during the gathering last week, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Salehi did not elaborate on the number of detainees.

According to social media posts, the thousands attending the gathering at the tomb of Cyrus demanded freedom of thought from the Islamic government.

“Iran is our country, Cyrus is our father,” and “Freedom of thought impossible with the mullahs,” protesters can be heard chanting in video clips uploaded online.

Other videos from the rally showed Iranians shouting: “Clerical rule is synonymous with only tyranny, only war,” and “No Gaza, no Lebanon, my life for Iran.”

Source: / timesofisrael /