A woman was arrested in Iran after she posted a video of herself singing without a hijab on YouTube, despite the Iranian parliament passage of a new, stricter law on women’s modesty that has been criticized by rights groups.
Parastoo Ahmady posted a 27-minute long video of her concert performance on Wednesday, in which she sang in a sleeveless dress with her hair down accompanied by four male musicians. In the caption, she described it as an “imaginary concert” and invited the audience to “imagine this beautiful homeland” in Iran.
The performance was filmed in a caravanserai, the name for the roadside inns historically built along the Silk Road to provide merchants and travelers with places to rest as they trekked the ancient trade route spanning North Africa to Central Asia. Ahmady wrote that it was “where history and our myths intertwine.”
“I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love,” the caption said. “This is a right I could not ignore; singing for the land I love passionately.”
Milad Panahipour, an Iranian lawyer, told The Associated Press that Ahmady had been arrested on Saturday over the performance. He told the outlet that he was unaware of the charges against her, the arresting agency, or the location of her detention.
Iran’s judiciary confirmed that a case has been opened into Ahmady’s performance but did not specify charges against her. The statement, released by the state-run Mehr News Agency, also said that Ahmady was released following an interview with authorities.
“The Mazandaran Police Information Center announced that Ms. Parastoo Ahmadi attended a briefing session after posting a video deemed contrary to cultural norms and values,” the agency said. “She has been asked to appear before judicial authorities.”
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Norwegian-based organization, said it received a report that two of the men performing with her — musicians Sohail Faghih-Nassiri and Ehsan Beyraghdar — were also arrested.
Iran’s hijab laws tighten
The hardline regimes that have reigned since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution have passed laws stating women must be veiled in the presence of men, though women have resisted these rules both domestically and abroad.
Conflict over the issue drew international outrage once again in 2022 when a young woman named Mahsa Amini was arrested outside of subway station in Tehran for allegedly failing to properly wear a hijab. The 22-year-old was dead just three days later.
Iran’s government denied wrongdoing in the matter, claiming that Amini died of pre-existing medical conditions. Human rights groups, however, have cast doubt on that, and a United Nations fact-finding mission asserted she was killed “as a result of beatings” by Iranian authorities.
Her death drew rage throughout Iran, drawing women out to protest in droves despite violent crackdowns by authorities.
The authorities who enforce the modesty laws, often called the morality police, have eased public confrontations with women over veiling since the election of President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier this year. Pezeshkian campaigned as a reformist who opposed these types of morality police patrols.
But enforcement has not stopped altogether, according to locals who have said the police are now instructed to issue warnings rather than take immediate action. So-called “anti-unveiling clinics” have also been established, where women are encouraged to follow the hijab laws through “therapy.”
Despite Pezeshkian’s reformist approach, the Iranian parliament pushed even harsher laws regarding women’s veiling earlier this year.
The Hijab and Chastity Law was originally submitted by former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in May, and was ultimately passed in September, according to Human Rights Watch. Enforcement of the law will go into effect for a three-year trial period, which the rights organization said will dramatically increase the punishments for women who do not comply.
This new law extends the enforcement into online spaces, increases fines for violations depending on frequency, institutes a travel ban for offenders, and includes long-term imprisonment as punishment, Human Rights Watch reported. Fines alone could be detrimental for many Iranians as the country’s economy has struggled under the weight of yearslong sanctions and regional conflict.
The U.N. Human Rights Council’s experts on Friday called for the law to be repealed, describing it as a “comprehensive system of gender-based persecution.”
Pezeshkian himself criticized the law earlier this month as difficult to enforce in both a statement on X and an interview on state television.
“We should not do anything that disrupts the unity and solidarity of society,” Pezeshkian said. “We need to have dialogue and engage in discussions about this issue.”
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