Iran Arrests 2 Actresses for Removing Headscarves in Public

Iran has arrested two award-winning actresses who removed their headscarves in public, apparently to express solidarity with the current anti-government protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the modesty police for wearing her hijab incorrectly. Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were both detained on Sunday on the orders of Iran’s prosecutor’s office, the state-run IRNA reported. Prior to her arrest, Ghaziani, 52 wrote on Instagram that “This might be my last post. From this moment on, whatever happens to me, know that as always, I am with Iranian people until my last breath.”  It is accompanied by a video of her standing on a busy street with her long hair around her shoulders; she then turns around and puts it into a ponytail.  Riahi, 60, in September gave an interview to the anti-regime London-based Iran International TV, without wearing a hijab, one of the first public figures to do so. “I believe that everyone is capable of deciding what to wear. This is the minimum level of freedom every human being deserves to have,” she said at the time. Other actresses and public figures reportedly have been summoned in recent days. Meanwhile, Iran has sentenced a sixth protester to death, charged with “waging war against God and the state,” and accused of “drawing a weapon with the intention to kill” during a demonstration in Tehran. The sentence was handed down on Sunday by Tehran’s revolutionary court. The protesters can appeal to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Court, according to Iran’s judiciary.