Iranian Anti-Headscarf “Woman, Life, Freedom” Singer Tagged with Ankle Band

Mehdi Yarrahi, an Iranian singer who released a song last year criticizing compulsory headscarf rules in the country, will wear an electronic monitoring tag instead of serving a one-year prison sentence, his lawyer has said. 

"His one-year imprisonment has been altered to wearing an electronic tag, with a restriction on movement within a radius of 1,000 meters, due to his illness and receiving medical care," lawyer Zahra Minuei announced on February 25.

Yarrahi was arrested in August last year and later released from custody after a fellow artist posted a 15 billion toman ($300,000) bail.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, as well as 74 lashes. Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code qualified Yarrahi for a one-year reduction of the prison term.

He was apprehended following the release of his song “Roosarito," or "Your Headscarf" in English, which was accompanied by a video showing women in public social settings without their mandatory headscarves and some dancing to the music.

Yarrahi dedicated the song to the "brave women of Iran who shine courageously at the forefront of the ‘Women Life Freedom’ movement,’" a reference to the nationwide protest movement sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for an alleged hijab violation.

As a protest against Yarrahi’s arrest, Iranian social media users posted and shared videos of their own dance performances and renditions of his songs.