Iran: Dancing Couple Given 10-year Jail Sentence

Astiazh Haqiqi and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi dance on a Tehran street: Photo: Twitter
Astiazh Haqiqi and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi dance on a Tehran street: Photo: Twitter
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Iran: Dancing Couple Given 10-year Jail Sentence

Astiazh Haqiqi and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi dance on a Tehran street: Photo: Twitter
Astiazh Haqiqi and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi dance on a Tehran street: Photo: Twitter

An Iranian couple in their 20s have been given jail sentences totaling 10 years after posting a video of themselves dancing on a Tehran street, the BBC reported.

They were reportedly convicted for promoting corruption, prostitution and propaganda.

The video showed them dancing by Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Tower, BBC said.

A source has confirmed to BBC Monitoring that the couple's arrest came after they posted the video to their Instagram accounts, which have a combined following of nearly two million.

Astiazh Haqiqi, 21, and her fiance Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, are said to be convicted of "promoting corruption and prostitution, colluding against national security, and propaganda against the establishment".

Haqiqi’s family home was raided before the arrest.

It is unclear how long the sentence is for each of the separate convictions they are facing. They have each been sentenced to a total of 10 and a half years - a combined sentence for the charges.

If their verdicts are upheld, they will have to serve the longest one of those sentencing terms.

According to reports, they were also handed a two-year ban on using social media and leaving the country.



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A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
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7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.