A photo of Mahsa Amini is displayed during a protest outside the United Nations on September 24, 2024, in New York City. — AFP
Iranian authorities arrested a female student on Saturday after she staged a solo protest against harassment by stripping to her underwear outside her university, reports said. The woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, had reportedly been harassed inside Tehran's prestigious Islamic Azad University by members of the Basij paramilitary force, who tore her headscarf and clothes. She then removed her clothes in protest and sat outside the university in just her underwear before walking defiantly in the street, shocking onlookers, as shown in videos posted on social media.
Under Iran's mandatory dress code, women are required to wear a headscarf and loose-fitting clothes in public. The footage, initially posted by the Amir Kabir newsletter, was widely circulated by Persian-language outlets, including the Hengaw rights group and Iran Wire news website, as well as Amnesty International. Another video depicted her being forcibly taken into a car by men in plain clothes and driven away to an unknown location. The Amir Kabir newsletter claimed she was beaten during her arrest.
Amnesty International demanded her immediate and unconditional release, stating, "Iran's authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment and ensure access to family and lawyer." The London-based rights group also called for independent and impartial investigations into allegations of beatings and sexual violence during her arrest. Iran's conservative Fars news agency confirmed the incident, publishing a heavily blurred image of the student, and stated that she had worn "inappropriate clothes" in class and "stripped" after being warned by security guards to comply with the dress code.
Citing "witnesses," Fars news agency denied reports of aggressive behavior by the security guards, claiming they spoke "calmly" with the student. The incident comes amid ongoing tensions following the 2022 near-nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman arrested for an alleged breach of the dress code. The protests, which saw women breaking taboos by removing their headscarves and sometimes burning them, were met with a harsh crackdown that left 551 protesters dead and thousands arrested.
Prominent figures, including actress Katayoun Riahi and activist Hossein Ronaghi, expressed support for the student, with Ronaghi describing her action as a "cry from the bottom of the heart against the oppression that has taken the life out of people, especially women."
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