BBC confirmed the couple’s arrest came after they posted the video on social media.
CBS News reported that Iran’s state media outlet Mizan claimed that Haghighi and Ahmadi were not jailed for dancing, but because their Instagram posts fueled resistance efforts by “encouraging people to revolt against the country and subversion.”
Mizan denied the 10-year sentence and claimed the couple had been sentenced to five years in prison for publishing a “call for protests”.
“It is clear that anti-revolutionary forces falsely reported the charges, claiming that they had been sentenced to ten years each,” Mizan news agency told the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, Reuters reported.
“Astiazh Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi issued a call for a rally on November 4 and called for riots on their Instagram pages,” Mizan’s statement read, according to CBS News. “During the riots, they used their site to solicit calls, including the 4 November call.”
The couple were individually sentenced by a Tehran court to 10 years and 6 months in prison, for a total of 21 years, for “promoting impurity and indecency, assembly and collusion against national security, and anti-regime propaganda.” ‘ the Washington Post said on Wednesday. The couple has also been banned from social media and banned from leaving the country for two years. While their profiles remain public, there have been no posts on Haghighi’s feed since September 28, 2022. Ahmadi’s last post was in early September.
More Iranians are protesting the government’s theocratic rule, and the authorities are cracking down. Much of the public dissent was sparked last year by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by Iran’s vice squad for improperly wearing a hijab. Amini died days later in her care.
Since then, Iranian officials have arrested public figures who have spoken out against the government’s response to Amini’s death. These include the arrests of celebrity actor Taraneh Alidoosti and celebrity chef Navab Ebrahimi.
Haghighi spoke out for Amini in September. In an Instagram post, she wrote: “Hoping tomorrow will be a better tomorrow. Let’s hold hands and support each other. We are all Iranians and we have to help each other.”
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stefficao/astiaj-haghighi-amir-mohammad-ahmadi-reported-iran
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