Iran arrests 8 people for 'un-Islamic' Instagram modeling

Iran has arrested eight people allegedly involved in an "un-Islamic" modeling practice on Instagram, Tehran's cybercrimes court prosecutor Javad Babaei announced on Sunday, May 15.

The arrests are part of the government's intensified crackdown on those who participate in such form of modeling in which women post photos of themselves without headscarves or hijab on social media. Not wearing headscarves has been illegal for women in the country since 1979.

Babaei gave the announcement on state television while he was talking about various "threats to morality and the foundation of family."

The court prosecutor said the eight arrested people were among the 170 who are presently being investigated for their involvement in online modeling. These included 58 models, 59 make-up artists and photographers, and 51 fashion salon managers and designers.

Babaei said 29 people were given warnings about the investigation, and 21 of these "reformed their behavior" and did not get arrested.

"The persons who reformed their behavior after receiving a notice did not face any judicial action, and eight out of the 29 have been arrested," he said, according to BBC.

The move has been part of the government's push to "sterilize" social media, according to Mostafa Alizadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Center for Surveying and Combating Organized Cyber Crimes. More operations will follow, Alizadeh stated.

Alizadeh also said they did the same operations for similar posts on Facebook in 2013, and now they are focusing on Instagram.

According to Babaei, 20 percent of Instagram posts coming from Iran are dominated by modeling agencies that promote "immoral and un-Islamic culture and promiscuity."

In 2014, Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad, who is based in London, launched a social media campaign against wearing the hijab. She encouraged Iranian women to post photos of themselves sans their headscarves on Facebook. Although she does not personally oppose wearing the hijab, Alinejad said women should have the right to choose if they want to wear it or not.

Her Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom," has earned close to a million likes.