Leading Iranian actress posts headscarf protest on Instagram
AN IRANIAN film star posted a picture of herself without the mandatory headscarf and holding a sign in support of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic for more than 50 days.
Taraneh Alidoosti, one of the bestknown film stars living in Iran, posted the image holding a slogan of the protest movement, “Woman Life Freedom”, to her Instagram account, where she has almost eight million followers.
The 38-year-old is a regular in movies by award-winning director Asghar Farhadi, including The Salesman, which in 2017 won the Oscar for best foreign language film. Recently she vowed to remain in her homeland at “any price” saying she did not have a foreign passport or residence. “I will fight for my home. I will pay any price to stand up for my rights and, most importantly, I believe in what we are building together today,” she said on Instagram.
It came as the semi-official Fars news agency reported yesterday that an “agent” of London-based broadcaster Iran International was arrested, with the outlet issuing a denial that she was an employee. Iranian media identified the arrested woman as Elham Afkari. Her brother, Saeed Afkari, confirmed her arrest yesterday, adding that the whereabouts of her three-year-old daughter were unknown.
Iran yesterday claimed to have built a hypersonic ballistic missile, in an unproven assertion likely to raise fear over Tehran’s missile capabilities.
Iranian media reported that Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the aerospace commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced the successful development
of the weapon. “This missile has a high speed and can manoeuvre in and out of the atmosphere. It will target the enemy’s advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap,” the commander said.
There have been no previous reports of Iran testing hypersonic weapons. Last month the US Congressional Research Service said it believed the country had only conducted “foundational research” into the technology.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and remain manoeuvrable within the Earth’s atmosphere, unlike intercontinental ballistic missiles, which travel outside the atmosphere.