A young couple who danced in front of one of Tehran’s most famous landmarks in a video viewed as a sign of defiance against the regime was sentenced by an Iranian court to more than 10 years in prison each.
Early in November, Astiyazh Haghighi and her fiancé Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, both in their early 20s, were detained when a video of them dancing in front of the Azadi Tower went viral.
Haghighi disregarded Iran’s severe regulations by refusing to wear a headscarf. Additionally, women are not permitted to dance in public.
Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September, who had been detained for allegedly breaking the headscarf laws, ignited protests that grew into a movement against the regime, Iranian authorities have harshly cracked down on all forms of dissent.
