Iranian actress arrested after showing solidarity with executed protester

The arrest came a week after she published a post on Instagram showing solidarity with Mohsen Shekari, a protester who had been executed.

Taraneh Alidoosti at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 26, 2022. (photo credit: REUTERS/STEPHANE MAHE)
Taraneh Alidoosti at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 26, 2022.
(photo credit: REUTERS/STEPHANE MAHE)

Iranian police arrested actress Taraneh Alidoosti, the star of the Academy Award-winning film The Salesman, Iranian state news organization the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Telegram on Saturday.

According to the Associated Press, the arrest came a week after Alidoosti published a post on Instagram showing solidarity with Mohsen Shekari, a protester who had been executed by the Islamic regime.

The IRNA state news agency, however, reported that she was arrested for failing to provide documents.

Alidoosti's previous actions opposing the Iranian government

Last month, Alidoosti also posted an image of herself without a head covering and holding a sign with the words “Woman. Life. Freedom.” in Kurdish in support of protests in Iran that began when Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini was killed in the custody of the Iranian "modesty police".

Taraneh Alidoosti at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 26, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/STEPHANE MAHE)
Taraneh Alidoosti at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, May 26, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/STEPHANE MAHE)

This is not the first time Alidoosti has found herself in trouble with authorities for criticizing the regime. According to the AP report, she was given a suspended five-month prison sentence in 2020 after criticizing the police for beating a woman without a head covering.

Iranian authorities have sentenced at least 12 people involved in the protests to death in closed-door hearings, the report added.