Taraneh Alidoosti arrested: How Iran is trying to make an example of top actor of Oscar-winning movie

On 17 December, Iranian authorities arrested actor Taraneh Alidoosti. The move even by Iran’s standards, shocked many across the world.

Alidoosti is one of the country’s most popular cinema figures and her’s is arguably the most high profile arrests that have been made in relation to the ongoing protests in Iran.

Alidoosti was arrested days after she took to Instagram to condemn the execution of 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari. He is the first person executed by the regime on charges related to the ongoing protests.

The 38-year-old actor shared a post saying “Your silence means supporting oppression and oppressors.”

This was not Alidoosti’s first brush with the authorities in the context of the ongoing protests.

On 9 November, the actor posted a picture of herself without the mandatory hijab in a move described by Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad as a “cultural earthquake.”

Alidoosti also held a sign with the protest slogan “Women, life, freedom.”

She was not immediately arrested after this picture was posted on Instagram, unlike her contemporary Hengameh Ghaziani who was arrested hours after she removed her hijab in public.

Meanwhile, Alidoosti’s Instagram account with more than 8 million followers remains unavailable. Her Twitter account has also been suspended.

What perhaps stopped authorities from immediately arresting Alidoosti was her stature as not just one of Iran’s most established stars but also as a globally renowned personality.

Alidoosti’s long and acclaimed body of work includes the 2016 Oscar-winning movie ‘The Salesman’.

Her films I’m Taraneh, 15 (2002) and About Elly (2009) were Iran’s official entries to the Oscars.

‘The brave actress of Iran’

Unlike several of her contemporaries, Alidoosti chose to stay in Iran. After announcing her support for the protests, she said that will be leaving the film industry.

Unsurprisingly, Alidoosti’s arrest has sparked global outrage with several of her co-actors and the Cannes film festival calling for her immediate release.

Alidoosti’s About Elly co-star Golshifteh Farhani shared a picture of the two on Instagram. She captioned the photo which shows Alidoosti with her head uncovered, “the brave actress of Iran got arrested.”

Iranian American actress Nazanin Boniadi posted on Instagram that Alidoosti has been kept in the Evin prison which is infamous for torturing inmates.

On the big screen, Alidoosti is known for playing unconventional roles. In her debut movie I’m Taraneh, 15 she plays the role of a young single mother. In the 2022’s Leila’s Brothers, she is seen as a middle-aged woman who’s setting up a family business in economic sanctions-hit Iran.

In her real life too, Alidoosti took brave roles. A vocal feminist, she supported the MeToo movement in the Iranian film industry where sexual harassment remains taboo.

But for Iran, the top actor is now only one of the odd 18,450 people who have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the morality police on 16 September.

The message is clear. You can be anyone but you will not be spared if you speak against the Islamic republic.

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