The well-known Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was arrested on Saturday evening in connection with the system-critical protests in Iran. According to the pro-government news agency Tasnim, the 38-year-old was accused of “spreading misinformation and supporting counter-revolutionary circles”. This usually carries a long prison sentence.
Alidoosti is one of the best paid and internationally most successful actresses in Iran. Last month she published a photo on her Instagram page of herself without the headscarf, which is mandatory in Iran, in public solidarity with the new women’s movement and the protests that have been going on for three months. In doing so, she jeopardized her career and was therefore praised for her courage at home and abroad.
Alidoosti’s Instagram photo without a headscarf.
(Photo: Taraneh Alidoosti / Instagram/via REUTERS)
Alidoosti’s best-known films include the dramas The Salesman and All About Elly, both directed by two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi. This year she premiered her latest film “Leila’s Brothers” at the Cannes Film Festival. Public showings of the film in Iranian cinemas have been banned by the Ministry of Culture.
Possible ban from Whatsapp and Instagram
The Iranian regime is also increasing its pressure on the internet company Meta. There is a threat of a permanent ban on WhatsApp and Instagram, which are very popular in the country. Meta has not yet responded to a letter from the Iranian authorities in early December. In it they called on the company to open a representative office in the country and to adapt its guidelines to the rules of the Islamic Republic. “If Meta doesn’t respond to our letter, this could be the prologue to a permanent ban,” Cyber Center boss Abolhassan Firusabadi said in a newspaper interview.
The Iranian security services had already blocked Instagram and Whatsapp as part of the protests that had been going on for three months. According to Tehran, the two apps were “involved in the conspiracy against Iran led by the foreign enemies.” This is how the Iranian leadership describes the months of nationwide system-critical protests with several hundred fatalities. Legal action is also planned against Meta.
System critics see the massive internet restrictions and the blocking of the apps as an attempt to prevent the spread of information, pictures and videos about the protests and anti-government posts by Iranian celebrities such as actress Alidoosti. The press is also not allowed to report independently on the protests. Journalists who ignored censorship have been arrested and dozens of them remain in detention.
The three-month internet censorship in the country also had economic consequences for the online business of around ten million Iranians. Especially Instagram as an exhibition space and WhatsApp as a communication and payment portal played an enormously important role for them. According to observers, the country’s most recent financial crisis is also linked to the Internet blocks. This week, Iran’s currency, the rial, fell to a record low, depreciating more than 20 percent in the last three months.