Five young Iranian women were arrested for dancing to the Afrobeat song “Calm Down” by a Nigerian singer, Rema.
A video of the five girls dancing to Rema’s song without a headscarf went viral on Tuesday.
Footage showed women dancing near skyscrapers in Tehran’s Ekbatan neighborhood, showing their bellies.
It went viral on TikTok and other social media channels during International Women’s Day on March 8th.
In response to the incident, Rema took to Twitter to express his inspiration from other Iranian girls and women fighting for a better future.
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He tweeted, “To all the beautiful women who are fighting for a better world, I’m inspired by you, I sing for you, and I dream with you.”
Activists, apparently from the Ekbatan region, first posted the video on Telegram and Twitter.
They said authorities asked area residents if they knew the women based on the pictures, according to the Times of Israel.
On Tuesday, activists said the women were arrested and forced to record video expressing regret.
In the Islamic Republic, women are forbidden from dancing in public and from going around without an Islamic headscarf.
The repeal of the mandatory headscarf law was one of the main demands of the civil unrest that erupted in September following the death of Mohsa Amini, 22, who was arrested for allegedly violating the dress code.
