Iran detains poet over film knocking regime’s treatment of women

Iranian authorities have detained poet and songwriter Yaghma Golrouee because of a new video condemning Tehran’s treatment of women, according to media reports.

The Wednesday report by 7sobh.com said Golrouee was detained on Monday. It said the reason for the detention is not clear. The Telegraph reported, however, that intelligence officers from the Revolutionary Guards arrested him because of his video on Iranian women’s struggle for equal rights and how they’re “happy and alive, despite being jailed.”

“The security agents came and searched all over our home and then arrested Yaghma Golrouee and took him away without telling us where they were taking him,” announced a message posted on his Instagram account by his wife. “We have not had any news about him since and are extremely worried about his health and safety.”

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The music video of Golrouee’s song, “Shere Rahai” — Song of Freedom — shows an assemblage of images of Iranian women and repeats the refrain “We are covered in blood but we know that at the end of the story, We’re free,” according to an online translation.

Calls to authorities were not returned immediately on Thursday because it is the weekend in Iran.

Golrouee’s work is mainly about love and sometimes social issues like poverty, addiction and environmental problems. Last month, he criticized authorities for blocking his books from being published because of pressure from hardliners.

His book I Have a Dream was a bestseller in Iran last year, Iranian.com says, but one of his previous works was banned from publication in the Islamic Republic.

His detention follows the recent arrests of other writers and artists, including five journalists, two poets and a filmmaker. It also comes ahead of crucial February parliamentary elections and as hardliners push against a nuclear deal with world powers.