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03/28/2024 04:35:16 pm

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Iran Arrests Two Over World Cup Video

(Photo : www.travelerstoday.com)

Iranian police arrested two actors on Monday for appearing in an online video of young men and women singing and dancing in support of the country's World Cup team.

Few facts were released about the two actors beyond that their initials are S.M. and M.L. Both are 23-years-old and residents of Shahrud, a small city 250 miles east of Tehran, reports state.

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The video features scenes from outside and inside Iran, but the portions where the 23-year-olds and a 26-year-old photographer were shown have been erased.

The clip also shows women not wearing the mandatory headscarf as they sing and dance in support of the country's soccer team. Young people are shown waving Iranian flags and dancing in cars, streets, homes and public parks, and these scenes are interspersed with footage from actual soccer matches.

According to the Agence-France Presse, the video was aired on a satellite television network. Reportedly, satellite dishes are illegal in Iran, but easy to find.

Provincial police chief Col. Rahmatollah Taheri called the video "vulgar" and urged Iranian youth not to take part in such activities. Those arrested have been referred for possible prosecution, authorities said.

The arrests come only a month after Iranian officials detained six Iranian men and women for participating in a hijab-less version of Pharrell Williams' hit song "Happy" for an online video. All six were released days later.

Iranian conservatives see behavior like this as a promotion of Western "decadence" which undermines the standards of the Islamic Republic. Such rules ban women from dancing in public or making public appearances without the proper head covering.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, on the other hand, has hoped to foster greater social and cultural openness in hopes that his nation can better engage with the West - especially when it comes to Iran's disputed nuclear program.

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