Authorities in Iran arrested Taraneh Alidoosti, one of the country’s most high-profile actors, for supporting anti-government demonstrations and criticizing the Islamic Republic for hanging a young protester.
Alidoosti, famed for starring in films that have received international acclaim, has been an outspoken critic of Iran’s violent crackdown on protests since they erupted in mid-September after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the so-called morality police.
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Alidoosti was arrested on Saturday after her house was raided by intelligence officials and police, the moderate Shargh newspaper reported.
Mizan Online, the official news agency of Iran’s hardline judiciary, said Alidoosti was being held in Ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison for publishing comments “without citation” as well as “provocative material in support of street riots.”
The ward is known for housing political prisoners, and rights groups have often condemned it for its harsh conditions. Hundreds of people, including rights activists, journalists, environmentalists, writers and photographers are currently being held in the ward.
In a tweet, the organizers of the Cannes film festival, which Alidoosti attended in May to promote the movie “Leila’s Brothers,” condemned her arrest and demanded her immediate release.
Photos and videos shared on Twitter on Sunday showed a number of fellow actors and co-stars gathered outside Evin to show support for Alidoosti and to try and get more information about her situation from officials.
Wider Clampdown
Rights groups say more than 450 people have been killed by security forces and more than 18,000 have been arrested in a brutal crackdown in which mostly young people and a high number of women and girls have been killed or beaten.
What started as one of the biggest feminist uprisings in the history of the Middle East quickly found support among large swathes of the population, uniting ethnic minorities and socio-economic classes behind a broad list of long-held grievances against the theocratic state.
Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress codes, which mostly target women. Alidoosti was an early supporter of the protests and has been an outspoken advocate for women’s rights.
Alidoosti’s last post on Instagram showed her holding up a sign with the Kurdish phrase “women, life, freedom” — the main slogan of the months-long protests — written in the Kurdish language.
Amini was from Iran’s sizable Kurdish community, which has been heavily targeted by security forces since the protests started.
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The post was accompanied by a caption that criticized the execution of 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari, the first person to be hanged by authorities for his involvement in demonstrations.
Iran has also executed 23-year-old protester Majidreza Rahnavard and at least 11 others have been formally sentenced to death. Some 15 others risk being hanged because their charges can carry the death penalty, according to London-based rights group Amnesty International.
Alidoosti, who starred in “The Salesman,” which won an Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2017, is the most high-profile person to be arrested in connection with the protests so far.
Many well-known faces in Iran — including footballers, athletes, actors and musicians — have also thrown their support behind the demonstrations and have been heavily critical of the government.
Several women in sports and cinema have publicly removed their head scarves in opposition to Iran’s mandates on how women should dress in public. Their actions have cost them their careers and freedom as a number have been jailed or placed under house arrest.
Alidoosti’s arrest comes as rights groups including Amnesty and the Norway-based Iran Human Rights have expressed mounting concern that several young men tried for their involvement in the protests face imminent execution, including 27-year-old Kurdish-Iranian musician and rapper Saman Yasin and 19-year-old Mohammad Boroughani.
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