Iranian security forces and plainclothes officers broke up a Halloween gathering in central Tehran on Friday evening, beating and detaining people and forcing nearby cafes to close, witnesses and sources told Iran International. Young people wearing Halloween costumes and makeup had gathered on Iranshahr Street, a popular area for cafes and cultural activities near Tehran's Artists Park (Park Honarmandan), when traffic police and local police officers blocked the road, according to sources familiar with the incident. Members of the Basij, a paramilitary force affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and plainclothes security personnel then moved in to disperse the crowd. An eyewitness said the operation extended beyond those celebrating Halloween, with families spending the evening in Artists Park also ordered to leave. "It was like the protests. They were running after people and shouting, 'Disperse!'" the witness told Iran International.