Teenage girls arrested over Instagram video showing them dancing in front of Iranian war memorial – and could face jail
TWO teenage girls have been arrested by Iran’s chilling morality police for dancing together in public.
Tehran’s twisted laws mean the duo could now face prison time after draconian officials branded their outfits “inappropriate” despite them wearing jeans and jumpers.
Viral footage released by the girls and posted onto Instagram soon caught the evil eyes of the Iranian authorities.
In the video, the pair perform a choreographed dance routine together in front of the Monument to the Unknown Martyrs of the Sacred Defence war memorial in Tehran.
The monument, designed by Italian architect Marcello D’Olivo, was built to honour those killed in the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1982.
The morality police are said to have detained the women shortly after the video was uploaded.
Dancing in groups has been strictly banned in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution with officials labelling it a “sinful act”.
Iranian authorities also said the girl’s outfits were “inappropriate”, according to Iran International.
The footage shows the women both wearing jeans.
One of them has rips in hers but no skin is on show.
The same woman is also in a blue cropped top which is covered up by a hooded jacket.
A pink bandage is also wrapped around her right hand.
Her friend has a multicoloured sweater on.
Both also have their hair uncovered despite the morality police typically forcing all women to conceal their hair.
A growing number of young girls have turned a blind eye to these strict policies across the past few years.
The ladies are also believed to have had their Instagram accounts blocked after they were detained for posting the dance.
The official punishment the women face is still unconfirmed with Iran’s authorities known to uphold unjust charges against those who go against the regime.
According Article 637 of the Iranian Penal Code, dancing in public is classed as a “crime against public modesty”.
People in similar positions as the women have been sentenced to flogging by 99 lashes in the past.
In 2014, six young men and women were handed down suspended sentences of a year behind bars as well as 91 lashes for a dance video.
They were arrested after being caught in a video dancing to Pharrell Williams‘ hit song “Happy”.
TEHRAN’S HORROR REGIME
Women are facing tighter restrictions than ever before in Iran with a new bill is set to toughen up regulations governing how they can dress and act in public.
The bill says that anyone found “naked, semi-naked, or wearing clothing deemed improper in public” can be arrested without question and handed over to the judicial authorities.
People refusing to comply could be banned from leaving Iran or even placed on a social media hiatus of up to two years if they post content deemed inappropriate online.
The law is yet to be passed by Tehran’s government but officers are already implementing it, claim several women.
The footage of the woman in the airport appears to be the latest example of Iranian women growing tired of the mandatory hijab laws.
Back in November, a courageous Iranian student stripped to her underwear after she was allegedly assaulted by morality cops over her hijab.
Her clothes and headscarf were both torn during the alleged assault at the Azad University of Science and Research in Tehran, Iran International reports.
Footage shows the woman sat near-nude outside a university before being bundled violently into a car by police.
She was also reportedly accused of being mentally ill and taken to a nearby hospital.
This “headscarf revolution” was all fuelled by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
Amini died in the custody of Tehran’s “morality police” after being arrested for violating Iran’s hijab rules.
She was beaten to death for wearing an “improper” hijab on September 16.
Women of all ages ripped off their compulsory hijabs at public demonstrations in defiance of the nation’s feared morality police.
Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security personnel, in a brutal crackdown and thousands of protesters were arrested.
Reports of torture and death at the hands of officials have also surfaced.
Iran's Morality Police
UNDER Iranian law, rooted in Sharia law, women must cover their hair with a hijab and wear long, loose-fitting clothing.
The Guidance Patrol – aka the morality police – are in charge of arresting women who violate the conservative dress code.
Tasked with ensuring Islamic morals are respected, they spend their days patrolling public spaces in vans to crack down on “improper” behaviour and clothing.
Women detained by cops are either given a warning or bundled into a van and whisked away to a “correctional facility” or a police station.
They are then lectured on how to dress before being released to their male relatives.
Since the 1980s, many women have been beaten to death by the callous morality police, or tortured into given false confessions.
Various clips this year have shown their increased presence as the country ramps up its violent crackdowns on women.
One disturbing video shows the moment Iran’s twisted morality police hurl a woman in the back of one of their patrol vans.
Before this a woman was filmed tackling a girl to the ground and attacking her as she screamed – seemingly because she hadn’t covered her hair.
Video has shown the morality police snatching women off the streets and bundling them into vans for wearing jeans in public.
Tehran announced a fresh crackdown on “anomalies” to its religious rules under the “Nour Project” in April.
The Jerusalem Post reports suggest crackdowns on behaviour have been violent.
Sexual harassment, beatings, arrests and the use of tasers have been reported around the country.