One of Iran’s most famous actresses has been arrested and charged with “spreading lies”, according to state media.
Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning film The Salesman, has been detained a week after posting on Instagram the first man executed in the current nationwide protests, according to reports.
The 38-year-old star wrote: “His name was Mohsen Shekari. Every international organization that watches this bloodbath and does not act is a disgrace to humanity.”
According to IRNA, the Islamic Republic’s official news agency, she was arrested after failing to provide “any document consistent with her claims”.
His Instagram account, which has more than eight million followers, has been suspended.
Protests swept Iran in September after the death in police custody of a 22-year-old Mahsa Aminiwho was arrested for not wearing her headscarf.
The protests have since become one of the most serious challenges to the Iranian regime since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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Why are Iranians protesting?
Mr. Shekari was executed 9 December after being accused of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country’s security forces with a machete.
Last week, Iran executed a second prisonerMajidreza Rahnavard, in connection with the protests.
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Iranian authorities claimed that Rahnavard stabbed two members of his paramilitary force.
In November, Alidoosti uploaded a photo of herself without a headscarf, holding a sign that read “Woman. Life. Freedom.” in Kurdish – a rallying cry used by female protesters.
She boycotted the 2016 Oscars ceremony following former US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban travel to a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Iran.
