Babak Fort gathering · Qal'e-ye Babak

Culture of origin: Azerbaijani · Cultural

Holiday sources: Azerbaijani

On the first weekend of July, thousands of people, mostly Azerbaijani activists, climb to Babak Fort (Qal'e-ye Babak), a Sasanian-era citadel on a mountain in the Qaradagh forests about six kilometres southwest of Kaleybar, to mark the birthday of Babak Khorramdin. Babak led the Khorramites against the Abbasid caliphate until he was betrayed, handed to the caliph al-Mu'tasim and tortured to death in 838. The Islamic Republic's authorities try every year to prevent the gathering. In 2018, when it was held on 5 and 6 July, human-rights activists reported up to 50 arrests in the days before, and security forces, intelligence agents and plainclothesmen outnumbered the visitors at the fort. The Center for Human Rights in Iran reported more than 80 people detained from 22 June, and said all 20 released from the Intelligence Ministry's detention centre in Kaleybar showed signs of physical abuse and broken bones.