Tabriz police have arrested 92 people for eating in public during the fasting month of Ramadan. The detainees were eating at the Shahryar Hotel coffee shop.
Eastern Azerbaijan police told the Fars News Agency on Wednesday that the Shahryar Hotel had been serving food since the beginning of Ramadan and has been shut down by judicial order.
The month of Ramadan began on Tuesday June 23, and for the duration, Muslims are expected to fast from daybreak to sundown.
In Iran, it is an offence to eat in public during the month of Ramadan, punishable by a fine and flogging.
The Fars report indicates that 41 young women and 51 young men in Tabriz had ordered food in the hotel and were arrested along with the coffee shop owner.
Some media sources have put the number of detainees at 150.
