PARIS: Iran stepped up pressure on celebrities and journalists on Thursday amid the wave of women-led protests sparked by outrage over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the Islamic Republic’s vice police .
Filmmakers, athletes, musicians and actors backed the protests, and many saw it as a signal as the national football team remained in their black tracksuits as anthems were played ahead of a game in Vienna against Senegal . “We will take action against the celebrities who fanned the flames of the riots,” Tehran provincial governor Mohsen Mansouri told Isna news agency.
Iran’s justice chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, also claimed that “those who rose to fame through the support of the system joined the enemy when times were tough.” The warnings came after nearly two weeks of protests across Iran.
Public anger erupted after the death of Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, on September 16, three days after her arrest for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict rules on wearing women. hijab scarves. “Woman, Life, Freedom!” protesters have chanted since then, in the largest Iranian protests in nearly three years. .
President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that despite “grief and sadness” over Amini’s death, public security “is the red line of the Islamic Republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law and to sow chaos”. The nation is open to reviewing how it enforces strict Islamic laws – but not the values that underpin them, the president said. “We should be looking for the best methods for the implementation of the law – every law,” Raisi said.
Iran on Thursday arrested journalist Elahe Mohammadi, who had covered Amini’s funeral, her lawyer said, the latest of a growing number of journalists to be arrested. Iran also denounced France’s “interference” in its internal affairs following a declaration of support for the rallies. agencies
Filmmakers, athletes, musicians and actors backed the protests, and many saw it as a signal as the national football team remained in their black tracksuits as anthems were played ahead of a game in Vienna against Senegal . “We will take action against the celebrities who fanned the flames of the riots,” Tehran provincial governor Mohsen Mansouri told Isna news agency.
Iran’s justice chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, also claimed that “those who rose to fame through the support of the system joined the enemy when times were tough.” The warnings came after nearly two weeks of protests across Iran.
Public anger erupted after the death of Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, on September 16, three days after her arrest for allegedly breaking Iran’s strict rules on wearing women. hijab scarves. “Woman, Life, Freedom!” protesters have chanted since then, in the largest Iranian protests in nearly three years. .
President Ebrahim Raisi has warned that despite “grief and sadness” over Amini’s death, public security “is the red line of the Islamic Republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law and to sow chaos”. The nation is open to reviewing how it enforces strict Islamic laws – but not the values that underpin them, the president said. “We should be looking for the best methods for the implementation of the law – every law,” Raisi said.
Iran on Thursday arrested journalist Elahe Mohammadi, who had covered Amini’s funeral, her lawyer said, the latest of a growing number of journalists to be arrested. Iran also denounced France’s “interference” in its internal affairs following a declaration of support for the rallies. agencies
