Iran created a secret committee to punish famous names

It was alleged that Iran established a secret committee to punish famous figures who supported anti-government protests that broke out in the country.

Documents obtained by the BBC showed that the Iranian administration had set up a secret committee to punish celebrities who supported Mahsa Amini’s protests. In a document dated September 22, it is seen that the committee in question sent a list of 141 famous names to the Ministry of Economy.

The famous football player Ali Daeiile and the actress Taraneh Alidoosti are also on the list.

According to the news reported by the Turkish BBC, many famous names included in this list and added later faced financial sanctions, travel bans and arrests for supporting the protests that started for fundamental rights.

‘THE FAMOUS WORK TEAM’

Documents obtained by the BBC Persian Service show that government agencies acted in coordination to discourage famous names.

Famous Iranian singers, actors and names from the sports world also shared their support for the protests. In addition to actress Taraneh Alidoosti, detained for two weeks on December 17 for condemning the execution of a protester, Asghar Farhadi, Pegah Ahangarani, Manijeh Hekmat, Barzou Arjomand and Shahin Samadpour also openly supported the protests.

The committee put these individuals under scrutiny on their tax returns to impose financial penalties on them.

Speaking to the BBC Persian Service, the two confirmed that their bank accounts were blocked for supporting the protests. It is understood from another document dated September 26 that the phrase ‘Top Secret’ was written, that the name “Celebrity Task Force” was changed to “The Hall of Fame Committee” and became permanent.

The third document, dated November 1, discusses how to handle potential outpourings of support from Iranian soccer team players ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.