Iran journalist Nazila Maroufian arrested again for defying headscarf law: report

A journalist who defied Iran's strict dress code and was freed on bail this month has been rearrested for not wearing the headscarf in public, a semi-official news agency reported Wednesday.

"Nazila Maroufian has been arrested for wearing inappropriate clothing in public places, and for publishing these photographs on social media," the Tasnim agency reported.

Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, women in Iran have been required to wear a scarf to hide their hair in public. But over the past year, more and more women have been appearing bareheaded in major cities.

Maroufian last year interviewed the father of Iranian Kurd Mahsa (Jina) Amini, 22, whose death in police custody last September for allegedly violating the dress code sparked months of protests.

In the interview, Amjad Amini accused authorities of lying about the circumstances of his daughter's death.

Iranian authorities have indicated she died because of a health problem, contesting accusations from the family and activists who have said she suffered a blow to the head while in custody.

Maroufian was released on bail on 13 August from Tehran's Evin prison after spending more than a month behind bars.

She had again posted on social media a photo of herself without a headscarf, in defiance of the dress code.

Maroufian, a Tehran-based journalist from Amini's hometown of Saqqez in Kurdistan province, was first arrested in November 2022.

She was later released but in January said she had been sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years, on charges of propaganda against the system and spreading false news.

On Wednesday, the daily Etemad reported that the trial had begun for Amini's lawyer Saleh Nikbakht, who is charged with "propaganda against the system".

Nikbakht's trial and Maroufian's rearrest come just days ahead of the first anniversary of Amini's death on 16 September.