Increased raids and public floggings were meant to send a strong message. But young people persisted in their resistance. In 2005, when conservative candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president, the .... revolution came under heightened threat. Unlike his predecessor, Ahmadinejad had no interest in finding ways to work with the growing youth population of Iran or in more progressive interpretations of Islam. He ordered the morality police to crack down on young people, raiding homes and parties and arresting women on the streets who dared to violate Islamist rules. Public floggings increased, as did arrests of scholars, feminists and journalists. The conservatives wanted to send a message.
