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Iran releases prominent actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail

The arrest of the popular artist best known for her role in the Oscar-winning film, "The Salesman," had prompted an outcry in the film industry and calls for her immediate release.

AFP

Taraneh Alidoosti was arrested for criticising a crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked the country for months.

Iran has released top Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail, state media reported, weeks after she was detained for criticising a crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked the country for months.

Best known for her role in "The Salesman," which won an Academy Award in 2017, the artist Alidoosti had expressed her solidarity with the mass protests that erupted across the country since September of last year.

The semi-official ILNA news agency, on Wednesday citing her lawyer, Zahra Minooee, said, "Alidoosti, who was arrested on December 17, was released today on bail," without giving further details.

Her picture, taken in front of Tehran's notorious Evin prison, was widely shared on social media.

Leading figures from the Iranian film industry still inside the country turned out to welcome her, including directors Mani Haghighi and Saeed Roustayi, the images showed.

Alidoosti's detention had prompted an outcry in the film industry and amplified concern about the authorities' reaction to more than three months of protests that has seen thousands arrested.

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti released after three weeks in detention: what joy and relief! Let’s stay involved! pic.twitter.com/rDwKJsfhZI
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) January 4, 2023

Solidarity from film industry

The demonstrations, sparked by the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, while in the custody of the morality police, have posed one of the biggest protests against the Iranian government since the 1979 revolution.

Since Amini's death, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, calling for the downfall of the country's clerical rulers.

According to human rights watchdogs, there have been more than 440 protesters killed, including 60 children, since demonstrations erupted last year. Thousands of others have been injured or detained by authorities.

Facing one of the biggest protests against their government in the past four decades, Iran's clerical rulers have accused a coalition of “anarchists, terrorists and foreign foes" of orchestrating the protests.

Iran has so far executed two people involved in mass protests.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said that at least 100 detained protesters face possible death sentences.