Iranian Actress Taraneh Alidoosti Is Released on Bail
Star actor Taraneh Alidoosti was detained by Iranian authorities for about three weeks due to her support for the protest movement, according to her lawyer. On Wednesday, officials released her on bond.
Alidoosti is one of the most well-known actors in Iranian cinema, gaining recognition abroad for his roles in Asghar Farhadi’s critically praised films, including the Oscar-winning “The Salesman” from 2016.
The film industry had expressed outrage about her detention, which increased worries about the government’s response to more than three months of protests, which had resulted in thousands of arrests.
According to attorney Zahra Minooee, “My client was released on bail today (Wednesday),” she told the ISNA news agency.
She was seen leaving Tehran’s Evin jail with flowers while strolling free, in apparent disobedience of Iran’s rigorous clothing codes, according to images released by Iranian media, including the Shargh newspaper. She was also not wearing an Islamic hijab.
The pictures showed that she was greeted by prominent members of the Iranian film industry who were still present in the nation, including the filmmakers Mani Haghighi and Saeed Roustayi.
She was seen sticking out her tongue and giving the victory sign in other photos of her being driven away in a car.
The Cannes Film Festival tweeted, “Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti released after three weeks in detention: what pleasure and relief!” Let’s continue to be active, it urged.
Alidoosti was commended for appearing “courageously also without mandatory hijab in the images after her release,” according to Iranian-born British actor Nazanin Boniadi.
Caution
Since the death in detention on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who was detained for allegedly breaking the nation’s strict dress code for women, Iran has been rocked by protests.
Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, was detained on December 17 as a result of a series of posts she made on social media endorsing the protest movement, including one in which she took off her headscarf and denounced the murder of protestors.
A public letter demanding her release was signed by over 600 artists from all around the world, including the actors Kate Winslet and Mark Rylance as well as the director Pedro Almodovar.
The petition, which was posted on the Instagram page of Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo, said that her imprisonment “was a message to public personalities in Iran as part of the Iranian regime’s ruthless assault on the nationwide Woman, Life, Freedom protests.”
In order to promote the critically praised film “Leila’s Brothers,” in which she appeared and which Roustayi also directed, Taraneh Alidoosti attended the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
She appeared in “Beautiful City” (2004) and “Fireworks Wednesday,” two of Farhadi’s earlier films before he achieved international fame.
Then, before returning for “The Salesman,” Alidoosti starred in the 2009 movie “About Elly,” which won Farhadi the Silver Bear for best director at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Assisting in oppression
Taraneh Alidoosti has long been regarded as a champion of women’s and civil rights in Iran. She is the daughter of a prominent Iranian international football player.
On November 9, she shared a photo of herself clutching a piece of paper with the words “Woman, life, freedom,” which served as the protests’ catchphrase.
In a social media post, Alidoosti promised not to leave Iran and declared that she would “pay any price to stick up for my rights.”
Since her arrest, her Instagram account, which has more than eight million followers, has been unreachable.
The most recent social media update from Taraneh Alidoosti was made on December 8, the same day that Mohsen Shekari, 23, became the first protester to be put to death by the government.
She stated on Instagram that “your silence implies the support of the tyranny and the oppressor.”
Activists worry that additional protesters could be executed after the public hanging of a second protester, Majidreza Rahnavard, also 23, on December 12.
The performer was detained, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online news agency, because she “did not offer verification for some of her allegations” regarding the protests.
It bemoaned the publication of “provocative material in support of the street disturbances” by “a number of celebrities.”
Iranian security forces murdered at least 476 people during the protests, which Iranian officials typically refer to as “riots,” according to the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Watch.
Before the protest movement spurred by Amini’s killing began, Iranian cinema leaders were already facing criticism.
Following their arrests in July of last year, award-winning filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi are still being held in captivity at Evin prison.
