DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran released a leading actress from an Oscar-winning film on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after she was jailed for criticizing a crackdown on anti-government protests, local reports said.
Taraneh Alidoosti, the 38-year-old star of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film The Salesman, has been released on bail, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said. Her mother, Nadere Hakimelahi, previously said she would be released in an Instagram post.
After her release from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Wednesday, Alidoosti posed with flowers among her friends. No other details about his case have been released.
Alidoosti was among several Iranian celebrities who expressed support for the nationwide protests and criticized the authorities’ violent crackdown on dissent. He posted at least three messages in support of the protests on Instagram before his account was disabled.
One message expressed solidarity with the first man executed on charges related to the protests, which was sparked by the death of a woman in police custody and turned into widespread calls for the expulsion of Iranian clerics.
Gisoo Faghfouri, Sharghdaily, via AP
The protests mark one of the biggest challenges facing the Islamic republic since it was founded following a revolution in 1979. Security forces used live ammunition, bullets, tear gas and batons to disperse protesters, according to rights groups.
Mohsen Shekari was executed on December 9 after being accused by an Iranian court of blocking a road in Tehran and assaulting a member of the country’s security forces with a machete. A week later, Iran executed a second prisoner, Majidreza Rahnavard, by public hanging. He was accused of stabbing two members of the Basij paramilitary militia, which is leading the crackdown.
Activists say at least a dozen people have been sentenced to death in closed hearings on charges related to the protests.
“His name was Mohsen Shekari,” Alidoosti wrote on an account with about 8 million followers before his arrest. “Any international organization that observes this bloodshed and does not act is a disgrace to humanity.”
At least 516 protesters have been killed and more than 19,000 people have been arrested, according to Iran Human Rights Activists, a group that closely monitors the unrest. Iranian authorities have not provided an official number of those killed or detained.
Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous Iranian actresses, were arrested in November for expressing solidarity with the protesters on social media. Voria Ghafouri, an Iranian soccer star, was also arrested that month for “insulting the national soccer team and spreading anti-government propaganda.” All three were released.
The protests began in mid-September when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code. Women have played a prominent role in the protests, with many publicly removing their mandatory Islamic headscarves, known as the hijab.
Protesters say they are fed up after decades of political and social repression. One of the main slogans was “Death to the Dictator”, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 83, who has held the country’s highest office for more than three decades.
Iranian officials blame the protests on the United States and other foreign powers. State media highlighted attacks on security forces, while authorities imposed severe restrictions on coverage of the demonstrations, including periodic blackouts of internet access.
Khamenei, who has said little about the protests, spoke about Islamic dress in a meeting with women on Wednesday, saying the hijab is necessary but that those who do not “completely observe” the practice “should not be accused of not being religious or against the revolution.”
Even before the protests, many Iranian women wore the veil loosely, and authorities sometimes stopped enforcing it, particularly during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who ruled from 2013 to 2021. His successor, hardliner Ebrahim Raisi , had taken measures. to tighten restrictions.
Alidoosti has previously criticized the Iranian government and its police force ahead of this year’s protests.
In June 2020, she received a five-month suspended prison sentence after criticizing police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her headscarf.
Other known films in which Alidoosti acted include ‘The Beautiful City’ and ‘About Elly’.
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