Iran urged to release woman detained after undressing at university

Human rights activists have called on authorities in Iran to release a woman who was detained after removing her clothes at a university, in what they said was a protest against the compulsory hijab laws.

A video surfaced on social media on Saturday showing the woman in her underwear sitting on some steps and then walking calmly along a pavement at the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

In a second video, the woman appears to remove her underwear. Shortly afterwards, plainclothes agents are seen forcibly detaining her and pushing her into a car.

Azad University said the woman suffered from a “mental disorder” and had been taken to a “psychiatric hospital”.

Many Iranians on social media questioned the claim and portrayed her actions as part of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that has seen many women publicly defy the laws requiring them to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothing.

More than 500 people were reportedly killed during nationwide protests that erupted two years ago after a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody after being detained for not wearing hijab “properly”.

The Amirkabir Newsletter Telegram channel - which describes itself as “Iranian student movement media” and was the first to publish the story - reported that the woman had an altercation with security agents over not wearing a headscarf, leading to her undressing during the scuffle.

It said the woman’s head hit the door or frame of the plainclothes agents’ car while she was being detained, causing it to bleed, and that she was taken to an undisclosed location.

Witness told BBC Persian that the woman entered their class at Azad University and began filming students. When the lecturer objected, she left, yelling, they said.

According to witnesses, the woman told the students: “I’ve come to save you.”

Iranian media meanwhile released a video of a man with his face blurred who claimed to be the woman’s ex-husband and asked the public not to share the video for the sake of her two children. BBC Persian has not been able to verify the man's claims.

“When I protested against mandatory hijab, after security forces arrested me, my family was pressured to declare me mentally ill,” said Canada-based women’s rights activist Azam Jangravi, who fled Iran after being sentenced to three years in prison for removing her headscarf during a protest in 2018.

“My family didn’t do it, but many families under pressure do, thinking it’s the best way to protect their loved ones. This is how the Islamic Republic tries to discredit women, by questioning their mental health,” she added.

Amnesty International said Iran “must immediately and unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested”.

“Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture and other ill-treatment, and ensure access to family and lawyer. Allegations of beatings and sexual violence against her during arrest need independent and impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account,” it added.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mai Sato, posted the footage on X and wrote that she would be “monitoring this incident closely, including the authorities' response”.

Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is currently imprisoned in Iran, issued a statement saying she was gravely concerned about the case.

“Women pay the price for defiance, but we do not bow down to force,” she said.

“The student who protested at the university turned her body - long weaponized as a tool of repression - into a symbol of dissent. I call for her freedom and an end to the harassment of women.”