Iran bans 12 actors from work over hijab violations: minister

By AFP
October 26, 2023
A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in her support in front of the Iranian embassy in Brussels on September 23, 2022, following the death of an Iranian woman after her arrest by the country´s morality police in Tehran. AFP/File
A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in her support in front of the Iranian embassy in Brussels on September 23, 2022, following the death of an Iranian woman after her arrest by the country´s morality police in Tehran. AFP/File

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities have banned a dozen women actors from working for failing to observe the Islamic republic´s strict dress code which includes mandatory headscarves, an official said on Wednesday. 

“Those who do not follow the law, will not be allowed to work,” Iran´s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting. On Tuesday, Iranian media reported that a dozen actresses who were found to be violating the hijab law -- among them Taraneh Alidoosti, Katayoun Riahi and Fatemeh Motamed-Aria -- “will not be allowed to play roles in movies”.

Alidoosti and Riahi were among the public figures who were briefly detained during last year´s widespread protests over the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.