TEHRAN Iran has arrested more than 100 “Satan-worshippers” in a raid on a concert in the southern city of Shiraz where people were drinking alcohol and “sucking blood”, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“One hundred and four members of a Satan-worshipping group were arrested at a party and immoral concert in Shiraz (on Sunday),” local Revolutionary Guards chief Abbas Hamidi was quoted as saying by Jam-e-Jam newspaper.

“The session was held in a garden outside Shiraz and the Satanist ceremony was broadcast live to the world via the Internet,” he said, adding the arrest was made by members of the Islamist Basij militia linked to the Guards.

“These people drank alcohol, hurt themselves and sucked blood,” Hamidi said. “They even bow to Satan in some ceremonies.”

Iranian authorities sometimes link hard rock and heavy metal music and their icons with devil worship.

Jam-e Jam carried pictures of drum sets and amplifiers seized in the raid and a group of young men photographed after the arrest sitting on the floor of an official-looking building with their backs to the camera.

Hamidi said Basij intelligence forces operating under the Revolutionary Guards had put “foreign-linked groups and their venues” under surveillance for a year before making Sunday's arrests.— AFP