Amid the ongoing turmoil in Iran, two popular Iranian actresses Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were arrested for publicly expressing solidarity with anti-government protests in the country, according to reports.
Ghaziani and Riahi, who are accused of collusion and acting against Iran's authorities, were detained after being summoned by prosecutors probing their "provocative" social media posts and media activity, the state-run IRNA news agency said.
Both women appeared in public without the mandatory headscarf.
On Saturday, 52-year-old film star Ghaziani posted a video on Instagram of herself without the obligatory hijab.
"Maybe this will be my last post," she wrote, saying she had been summoned by the judiciary.
"From this moment on, whatever happens to me, know that as always, I am with Iranian people until my last breath," the actress wrote.
Riahi was arrested as the 60-year-old actress appeared in an interview in September on London-based Iran International TV without wearing a hijab. Iran International TV is an outlet despised by the regime, AFP reported.
Protests in Iran erupted in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police in the capital, Tehran, for allegedly breaking the strict hijab rules. She died three days later on September 16. There were reports which claimed that Amini was beaten by officers, who banged her head against a vehicle. The police have denied the allegations that she was mistreated and said she suffered a heart attack.
Ghaziani and Riahi are among several high-profile Iranian public figures who have lent their support to the protestors rallying against the country's clerical establishment.
According to human rights activists, around 400 demonstrators have been killed and 16,800 others arrested in a major crackdown by security forces during the ongoing turmoil, BBC reported.
Iran's leaders have blamed the country’s foreign enemies for orchestrating the protests which they term as "riots". The country has sentenced at least five protesters to death in connection with the demonstrations.
