Zara Esmaili sings in an underground train carriage in Tehran, Iran

UPDATE, AUG 7:

Video of Iran’s “morality police” beating two teenage girls has gone viral on social media.

In the footage, posted by Ensaf News and viewed almost 300,000 times, the girls are accosted on Vatanpour Street in northern Tehran because they are not wearing hijab. The attackers are dressed head to foot in black veils and chadors.

Earlier this year, Iranian authorities implemented the “Noor” plan for more intense enforcement of hijab regulations.

The mother of Nafas Haji Sharif, 14, said that her daughter’s head hit an electric pole during her arrest, and that the beating continued inside the police van.

Nafas suffered facial injuries, swollen lips, a bruised neck, and torn clothing. She finds it difficult to speak.

Her mother filed a complaint but the pursuit of justice has been largely unsuccessful, although a military prosecutor granted her access to CCTV footage of the incident.

Tehran police claimed the incident was on June 21. They alleged that the girls were warned about “inappropriate clothing” and responded with obscenities.

The police’s Information Center said conduct of officers was “not within the framework of its standards”, and the judiciary and the force’s internal inspection unit ware investigating the case.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

Iranian authorities have executed another participant in the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Reza Rasaei, 34, was hanged early Tuesday morning.

Rasaei was arrested in Sahneh in the Kermanshah region in western Iran. He was accused of killing a Revolutionary Guards colonel on November 18, 2022. The capital punishment was upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

Amnesty International said in February 2024 that the death sentence was issued after a “grossly unfair trial” based on “forced confessions”, obtained under torture including beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, and sexual violence.

The human rights organization warned in May that, having exhausted all legal avenues, Rasaei was at imminent risk of execution.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Cracking down both on artistic expression and women’s rights, Iran’s authorities have imprisoned singer Zara Esmaili for performing in public without wearing the compulsory hijab.

Esmaili is well-known for her concerts in spaces such as parks, metro stations, and subway trains. She was detained at her home on July 26. Five days earlier, she posted an Instragram video of her cover of Amy Winehouse’s Back in Black, which went viral.

Iranian officials have provided no information about her whereabouts or condition. Her family have been unable to make contact.

Faravaz Farvardin, the founder of the Berlin-based Right to Sing Campaign, said:

Esmaili’s prominent presence on the streets is what terrifies the Islamic Republic. Her videos have started to go viral, and we know the Islamic Republic doesn’t like brave women, seen doing things that do not comply with its rules and laws. They are scared of them being seen.

Amid the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests — spurred by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was detained for “inappropriate attire” — a series of Iranian artists have been detained and even threatened with death.

Rapper Toomaj Salehi was seized in October 22, weeks after the start of the protests. His death sentence was overturned, but he is still behind bars.

Shervin Hajipour, whose song Baraye became an anthem of the demonstrations and won the US Grammy Award, has been condemned to 3 years and 8 months in prison. The sentence was upheld last week and an appeals court, and Hajipour summoned to serve the term.