Security forces arrested seven fashion models in late January, according to unconfirmed reports on social media. Six of the seven arrested were women, and all had posted photographs of themselves not wearing hijab on their Instagram pages. On February 2, there were reports that more models had been arrested, though these arrests are also unconfirmed.
The models have been named as Melikaa Zamani, Niloofar Behboudi, Donya Moghadam, Dana Nik, Shabnam Molavi, Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei.
Authorities and family members of the models have not confirmed or denied the arrests, which were thought to have taken place about a week ago. Two of the models, married couple Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei, were allegedly released a few days ago and fled the country on January 30.
All seven have been very active on social media, including Instagram. Although the arrests could be linked directly to the photographs they posted, there has also been speculation that their sheer popularity online has angered authorities.
Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei
The models have been named as Melikaa Zamani, Niloofar Behboudi, Donya Moghadam, Dana Nik, Shabnam Molavi, Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei.
Authorities and family members of the models have not confirmed or denied the arrests, which were thought to have taken place about a week ago. Two of the models, married couple Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei, were allegedly released a few days ago and fled the country on January 30.
All seven have been very active on social media, including Instagram. Although the arrests could be linked directly to the photographs they posted, there has also been speculation that their sheer popularity online has angered authorities.
Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei
The Instagram pages of Elnaz Golrokh and Hamid Fadaei are currently still online. There have been a string of comments on their pages over the past week, many of them asking why they had taken down certain photographs, and why they had not uploaded any new posts.
In addition to working as a model, Elnaz Golrokh is a beautician who runs a popular salon in northern Iran. More than 500,000 people follow her on Instagram. Hamid Fadaei is one of Iran’s most famous male models, and works for the Iranian apparel company Fila. He has over 100,000 fans on Instagram.