# METOO AWAKENING IN IRAN

ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISC O DUCT BY RENOWNED ART I STAY DI NAG H DASH LO O HIT A RAW NERVE IN CONSERVATIVE SOCIETY

Thirteen Iranian women have accused 80- year- old internationally acclaimed artist Aydin Aghdashloo of sexual misconduct over 30 years. Most are former students and some are journalists. “I am not a perfect man,” Aghdashloo said in his defence |

Three years into the global #MeToo movement, women who say they have been sexually assaulted are improbably going public in Iran.

The movement’s reach inside Iran gained momentum in late August after allegations aired on Iranian social media against more than 100 men, including a giant e- commerce company’s former star manager, a prominent sociology professor and the owner of a popular bookstore.

But the highest- profile person to face such allegations so far is a nearly 80- year- old, internationally acclaimed artist with ties to the ruling elite. Thirteen women, in interviews with The New York Times, accused the artist, Aydin Aghdashloo, of sexual misconduct over a 30- year span. Most are former students, and some are journalists who have reported on art and culture.

The willingness by women who say they were victims to share their stories more openly is a groundbreaking shift in Iran’s conservative society, where discussing sex is culturally prohibited, sex outside marriage is illegal, and the burden of proof for victims of sexual crimes is onerous. A raped woman often gets the blame.

Aghdashloo declined requests for an interview but strenuously denied wrongdoing, and according to his lawyer has already taken legal action against one accuser. In a written statement provided to The Times, Aghdashloo described himself as an independent artist whose career was built on creative achievement.

“The allegations of sexual abuse against me are full of significant inaccuracies, mischaracterisations and fabrications,” he wrote. “To be clear, I have always sought to treat people with respect and dignity and I have never abused, assaulted nor takenadvantage of anyone.”

Still, he wrote, “I am not a perfectman,” and that if his behaviour had offended or distressed anyone, “I deeply apologise.”

To be clear, I have always sought to treat people with respect and dignity and Ihave never abused, assaulted nor taken advantage of anyone ... I amnot a perfect man ... I deeply apologise.”

Aydin Aghdashloo | Artist accused of rape in Iran

Ex- students say Aghdashloo often boasted about connections to government and religious officials in Iran and claimed he was invulnerable because of them.

Limus test for authorities

How the authorities treat the perpetrators and victims of sexual misconduct has become a test of the # MeToo movement’s durability in Iran, a country of more than 80 million.

Compared with the impact in the United States after the accusations against Harvey Weinstein, the imprisoned Hollywood mogul, the fallout in Iran is only beginning to unfold. But there are signs that the male controlled power structure in Iran has started to respond to accusations like those made against Aghdashloo.

Tehran’s police chief announced on October 12 that the bookstore owner, Keyvan Emamverdi, had confessed to raping 300 women, after 30 took the brave step of filing legal complaints. The police said he would be chargedwith “corruption on earth,” a capital offence.

The e- commerce company Digikala opened an investigation into its exmanager. Iran’s sociology union expelled the accused professor and called for a zerotolerance policy. A painting by Aghdashloo was pulled from the cover of a famous literary collection, and at least three women have said they are considering legal action against him.

“This is a turning point for sexual abuse, the biggest taboo for women in Iran has been sex and sexual violence and abuse,” said Elnaaz Mohammadi, 33- year- old co- founder of Dideban Azar, or Abuse Watch, an education and advocacy group in Tehran.

The Times found and interviewed former students of Aghdashloo’safteranIranianjournali in the United States, Sara Omatali, posted on Twitter August 22 that he had sexually assaulted her in 2006 when she visited to interview him.

Harrowing accounts

She wrote that he had greeted her while naked with a robe draped on his shoulder, forced a kiss and pressed his body on hers. Her account appeared to be the catalyst for others.

In telephone interviews, 45 people — including former students, a longtime teaching assistant, art gallery owners, actresses, a Tehran art agent and journalists covering art and culture in Iran — all said Aghdashloo’s behaviour toward young female students had been known in Iran’s art circles.

Thirteen said they had been victims, including one who was 13 years old at the time.

Nineteen described him as the “Harvey Weinstein of Iran,” elevating or destroying careers of women depending on their receptiveness to his advances.

One former student said he had offered her one of his paintings — worth $ 100,000, the price of a small apartment in Tehran — if she slept with him. Another said he had retaliated when she refused him, telling galleries to shun her artwork. Her career faltered.

“Aghdashloo’s reputation was an open secret in the art world but nobody did anything about it,” said Solmaz Azhdari, 32, who studied painting under him. She said she had witnessed him placing his hands between a young female student’s legs in 2007 during a sketching class.

In telling their stories, some asked to be identified only by their first names— a reflection of the subject’s sensitivity and their fear of Aghdashloo. Maryam, an art photographer, 49, said she had visited Aghdashloo in 2010, to collect paintings from his basement studio for the gallery where she worked.

She said Aghdashloo had insisted she view his paintings of nude women, then forcibly kissed her and tore at her clothes. When she screamed, Maryam said, he covered her mouth with his hands; she pushed him away and fled, shouting “you have no shame!”

Maryam said she quit her job, and on her mother’s advice never publicised the encounter or contacted the police. “I was terrified of what he could do tome andmy career if I told anyone or brought charges,” she said.

In his art classes, the ex students said, he asked the women to sit onhis lap when he reviewed theirwork, pressed against them while teaching and shared explicit details of a fascinationwith adolescent girls.

Mehrnaz, 54, said he made her sit on his lap and caressed her thighs. Afarin, a Tehran teacher, said she had been molested repeatedly 30 years ago, at age 13, by Aghdashlo. She had been too terrified to tell her parents, she said, and still avoids the street where Aghdashloo held class.

Supporters deny charges

His supporters have rallied to defend him, including former students who posted a letter on Instagram. His first wife, Hollywood actress Shoreh Aghdashloo, said he was “simply not capable of such heinous acts.” One former student, Mitra Zad, said she had seen “nothing but good things” fromhim.