Iranian authorities arrested a female student Saturday after she staged a solo protest against harassment by stripping to her underwear outside her university, reports said.
The woman, who has not been identified, had been harassed inside the prestigious Tehran Azad University of Science and Research by members of the Basij militia who ripped her headscarf and clothes, according to reports by several news outlets and social media channels outside Iran.
She then took off her clothes in protest and sat outside the university dressed just in her underwear before defiantly walking in the street, to the astonishment of passers-by. Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Under Iran’s mandatory dress code, women must wear a headscarf in public and loose-fitting clothes that cover all bodily contours. The student’s protest appears to have been a defiant act against these strict regulations.
The Amir Kabir newsletter, an Iranian student social media channel, alleged the woman was beaten during her arrest by plain-clothed men who bundled her into a car and drove her away to an undisclosed location. Fars news agency, a conservative Iranian outlet, confirmed the incident, claiming the student had worn “inappropriate clothes” in class.
The incident comes amid the Iranian government’s crackdown on the unprecedented women-led protests that erupted in 2022 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. The protests, which saw women removing their headscarves, were met with a fierce response that left hundreds dead and thousands arrested.
The arrest of the female student who stripped in protest highlights the Iranian authorities’ continued intolerance of dissent and their efforts to enforce the mandatory dress code, even in the face of growing public opposition. The incident is likely to further inflame tensions and draw international condemnation of Iran’s human rights abuses.
