“I’m With Iranian People:” Actress Arrested After Posting Video Without Hijab

Iranian actress Hengameh Ghaziani has been arrested after publishing a video of herself in which she appeared in a street of Tehran without the mandatory headscarf.

In an act of defiance showing the broadening support for anti-government protests that have convulsed Iran for more than two months, Ghaziani shared the video on Instagram along with the caption: “This might be my last post. From this moment on, whatever happens to me, know that as always, I am with Iranian people until my last breath.”

Earlier, the actress wrote on Instagram that the government “will be recorded in history as a child-killing regime.”

The official news agency IRNA reported Ghaziani’s arrest on November 20, saying she was a supporter of "disruptions."

Ghaziani’s moves came amid a fierce crackdown by government forces on nationwide unrest that erupted after the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of morality police. She had been arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

At least 378 people, including 47 children and 27 women, have been killed by security forces, according to one human rights group. Thousands of people have been incarcerated without charge. Five have so far been sentenced to death over the protests.

The Iranian Short Film Association on November 20 condemned the killing of youngsters and children, and said that from now on it will stand with the people of Iran.

“Infanticide and violence against children” are being committed in the streets in the “most horrifying and naked form,” the association said in a statement.

The protest movement demanding more freedoms and women's rights poses one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s clerical regime since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Earlier this month, popular Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti published a photo of herself, without a hijab, holding a sign with the slogan "Woman, life, freedom."

Two other Iranian actresses, Khazar Masoumi and Donya Madani, followed suit in publishing their pictures without a headscarf.