Iran Arrests Oscar-Winning Actor Alidoosti For Lending Support To Anti-Hijab Protests: Report

Iran arrested actor Alidoosti, known for her role in the Oscar-winning film "The Salesman" after she voiced support for the three-month-old protest triggered by the death of a woman in custody.

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti arrives for the screening of the film "Leila's Brothers" during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2022.

Source : AFP

New Delhi: Iran on Saturday arrested a prominent actor Taraneh Alidoosti, best known for her role in the Oscar-winning 2016 film "The Salesman" after she voiced support for the three-month-old protest movement triggered by the death of a woman in custody, news agency AFP reported citing Iranian media. Alidoosti, 38, was detained for "publishing false and distorted content and inciting chaos," the Tasnim news agency reported.

Alidoosti's most recent social media post was on December 8, the same day Mohsen Shekari, 23, became the first person executed by authorities over the protests. "Your silence means the support of the oppression and the oppressor", read text on an image shared to her Instagram account.

"Every international organisation who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity," Alidoosti wrote in the caption of her post. The actor has been a prominent presence in Iranian cinema since she was a teenager. The Islamic republic has been rocked by protests triggered by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code.

On the day of Amini's death, Alidoosti posted a photo to Instagram with text saying: "Damnation to this captivity". The caption to the post read: "Don't forget what Iran's women go through" and asked people to "say her name, spread the word".

She posted an image of herself on November 9 without a headscarf, holding a paper with the words "Woman, life, freedom", the main slogan of the protests. Hot on the heels of Shekari's execution, Iran publicly hanged protester Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, on December 12. Nine other people arrested in connection with the unrest have been sentenced to death.

Thousands of people have been detained since the protests erupted and 400 have received jail sentences of up to 10 years for their involvement in the unrest, Iran's judiciary said Tuesday.

(With AFP Inputs)