Iran is rocked by protests sparked by the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, who died after she was arrested by vice squad for violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.

Iranian officials generally decry "riots" and say hundreds of people have been killed in the unrest, including members of the security forces, and thousands more arrested.

Ms Alidoosti, 38, had been detained in Evin prison in Tehran since December 17 after she posted several social media posts showing her support for the protest movement, including some with photos she was not wearing. veil and condemned the execution of demonstrators.

"My client was released on bail today," her lawyer Zahra Minooee told the Isna news agency on Wednesday.

Photos posted on Twitter show her bareheaded, without a veil, carrying a bouquet of flowers and talking on the phone, on her release from prison, where friends and colleagues had welcomed her.

Iranian film figures were among them, including directors Mani Haghighi and Saeed Roustayi.

"Courageous"

Other photos show her in a car sticking her tongue out and making the V for victory with her fingers.

British actress of Iranian origin Nazanin Boniadi hailed the fact that her colleague appeared "bravely without the obligatory veil in the photos after her release".

Taraneh Alidoosti was the most famous personality arrested in connection with the protests.

She is particularly known for having played in award-winning films by director Asghar Farhadi, including "The Client", Oscar for best foreign language film in 2017. She also played in Saeed Roustayi's film "Leïla et ses frères", presented this year at the Cannes Film Festival.

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti (C) on January 4, 2023 after her release from Evin prison, near Tehran, where she had been detained for supporting the protest movement, according to her lawyer © Gisoo Faghfoori / Sharghdaily/AFP

He welcomed her release in a tweet accompanied by a photo of her without a veil.

"Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti has been released after three weeks in detention: what joy and relief! Let's stay involved!", he wrote.

Nearly 500 personalities and other film professionals, such as French actress Marion Cotillard or Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, called in an open letter in December for his immediate release.

Emma Thompson, Golshifteh Farahani, Kristen Stewart, Jeremy Irons and Mark Ruffalo among others believed that the timing of his arrest, shortly before Christmas, was to "keep his international colleagues distracted".

"But we are not distracted. We are outraged," they said in the letter.

“Taraneh was arrested for condemning on Instagram the execution of Mohsen Shekari, the first protester sentenced to death since nationwide protests began following the brutal police killing of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in September. “, they added.

"Pay any price"

"Like all citizens of Iran, she has the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association and to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention. We stand in solidarity and demand her immediate release." they still.

Since her arrest, the actress' Instagram account, followed by more than 8 million people, has remained inaccessible.

"Your silence means that you support the oppression and the oppressor," she said in her last post on social media, the day Mohsen Shekari, 23, became the first protester executed by Iranian authorities.

She also announced that she did not want to leave Iran, saying she was ready to "pay any price for (her) rights".

On November 9, she posted a photo of herself without a veil, with a sign bearing the message "Woman, life, freedom", the main slogan of the demonstrations.

Photo taken on May 26, 2022 showing Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti during a photocall during the 75th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival, in the south of France © LOIC VENANCE / AFP/Archives

According to the judicial news agency Mizan Online, the actress had been arrested "by order of the judicial authority" because she "did not provide evidence regarding some of her assertions" regarding the protests.

© 2023 AFP