Yesterday, on September 30, a bus carrying around 40 female Gonabadi Dervishes from Beidokht to Tehran was intercepted, and the passengers were subject to inspection and interrogation. To this point of time, they have not been allowed to continue their journey.

According to Majzooban Noor, the bus was stopped at Sabzevar Police Station, and on the grounds of likely possession of narcotics, the passengers were transferred to Station 13 in Sabzevar and were subject to inspection and interrogation. The subjects of the interrogation, however, were their motive for travelling and the recent Dervishes’ rallies in Tehran.

This happens while Gonabadi Dervish convoys from Beidokht to Tehran to meet their beloved leader (Qutb) and partake in Sufi sessions is a regular event.

The report also says that, after interrogating and inspecting these women, the police forces did not allow them to continue their travel to Tehran telling them, they were under orders to send them back to Beidokht accompanied by soldiers. The passengers strongly disagreed with this decision. Consequently, 38 female dervishes, one man, and a number of children have been held in Sabzevar Police Station 13 for more than 7 hours.

Dervishes from Sasbzevaar were informed of this matter and went to the police station, and the women insisted on continuing their travel. Subsequently, the head of the police station informed them of Gonabad’s prosecutor’s telephone call to the effect that they were forbidden from going to Tehran for the following five days.

As reported before, following the recent peaceful protests of Dervishes and announcing that they would carry on their rallies, a wave of intimidation and suppression by security forces has begun, as there have been reports of detaining Dervishes on roads and summoning them to Prosecutor’s office and police stations via telephone calls and text messages in different cities.

Stay tuned.