Iranian couple detained over dancing in Tehran streets

• Video of Iranian couple dancing in Tehran’s Azadi Square goes viral on social media.
• Both were accused of “promoting corruption and vice,” among other charges.
• Haghighi and Ahmadi are being held at the Qarchak Women’s Prison in Tehran.

Following the release of a video showing an Iranian couple dancing in the capital city of Tehran‘s major square, both of whom were social media influencers, the couple received hefty prison terms.

Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, can be seen dancing in Azadi Square without wearing a headscarf in a video that has gone viral on social media. The couple themselves published the video.

Each was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison after being accused of “promoting corruption and vice” and “assembly and collaboration with the goal of damaging national security,” according to the watchdog group News Agency.

However Mizan, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, said each individual was sentenced to 5-year prison term on the charges of “assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security.”

The two are accused of encouraging people to assemble and inviting them to riot in an Instagram post made on October 26, Mizan Online also said.

Judge Abolqasem Salavati presided over their case and meted out the sentences, along with a ban on posting videos on social media for two years and a ban on leaving the country for two years, according to Media.

The couple’s residence was initially searched by security personnel early on October 30. They were taken to be questioned before being taken to prison, a source told Media.

Haghighi was initially transported to Ward 209 of the Evin Prison before being moved to the Qarchak Women’s Prison, where she is presently being held, according to Media.

A lawyer is not being made available to Haghighi or her partner, it was added.

In addition to having separate YouTube accounts with a combined following of more than 500,000, Haghighi and Ahmadi each have close to a million Instagram followers.

This comes after Mahsa Amini, a young lady accused of disobeying the nation’s regulations requiring women to wear the hijab, died while in detention, sparking widespread protests across the nation.

Iran has reacted by putting to death protestors who were charged with killing security personnel, accusations that critics claim were the outcome of hurried sham trials.

In addition to having separate YouTube accounts with a combined following of more than 500,000, Haghighi and Ahmadi each have close to a million Instagram followers.

Critics have contrasted their harsh sentences to that of Sajjad Heydari, an Iranian man who made headlines by beheading his wife last year.

According to the country’s semi-official Khabar Online website, Heydari received a sentence of only eight years and two months in prison for killing his 17-year-old wife in February 2022.

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