Moscow police detained dozens of Iranian nationals who gathered in public to celebrate the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a U.S.-Israeli military operation, the Ostorozhno Novosti news outlet reported Friday.
The gathering took place on Sunday outside the Salaryevo metro station in southwestern Moscow. According to police cited by the outlet, participants shouted “Thank you, United States of America” and ignored officers’ orders to disperse.
Dozens of people were detained and charged with the administrative offense of participating in an unauthorized public gathering.
Most of those detained were fined, while the alleged organizer, a dentist who invited people to meet via Instagram, was sentenced to 10 days of arrest, the report said.
During court hearings, prosecutors said 21 people had taken part in the rally.
However, Ostorozhno Novosti said it identified at least 45 administrative cases filed by Moscow’s Shcherbinsky and Meshchansky district courts against individuals believed to be Iranian citizens under the same article.
The wording in the case materials was nearly identical, the outlet reported.
In a social media post inviting people to the gathering, the organizer reportedly wrote that the event was meant to be a “celebration of joy” and asked participants not to bring political banners or similar items.
In court, she said she had “simply organized a meeting to barbecue together.”
Separately, schoolchildren in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan were taken to the Iranian Consulate General to commemorate Khamenei, Ostorozhno Novosti reported.
Students from Gymnasium No. 3, including members of the pro-Kremlin Yunarmiya youth movement’s Berkut unit, took part in what the school described as a “solemn mourning ceremony.”
According to the school, the children laid flowers at a portrait of Khamenei placed near the consulate wall “as a sign of deep respect for the Iranian statesman,” along with candles and soft toys.
Printouts displayed on the consulate wall included quotes attributed to President Vladimir Putin and statements from local Muslim clerics condemning what they called a “terrorist act by the United States and the Zionist regime.”
The school said the students had joined others in honoring Khamenei’s “memory and spiritual legacy.”
“In such difficult moments it is important to remain united and share the pain of loss. Our participation is a symbol of friendship and sincere support for the Iranian people,” the school said.
Read this story in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service.
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