Three women have been arrested in Iran after posting pictures on social media showing them dancing at a cemetery in northeastern Neyshapur, the city’s public prosecutor announced Saturday.
“Following the publication of a video on the Internet showing the three young women dancing in the martyrs’ cemetery in Nishapur, Khorasan-Razavi province, the prosecutor ordered their arrest,” Prosecutor General Mohammad Hosseini said, as quoted by Tasnim news agency.
The prosecutor added that “their feelings were hurt” by the behavior of the three young women, without revealing details about their nationalities or age.
“The young women expressed remorse and apologized because they committed an act that violates social norms,” Hosseini added, adding that an investigation had been launched into the matter.
The law currently in force in Iran since the 1979 revolution prohibits dancing in public, but not between people of the same sex.
Iranian legal experts said, “Dancing is not a crime in itself, and no prosecution can be launched against a person who does so.”
They added: “However, if someone dances in public or on the Internet in a way that would offend public modesty, he can be prosecuted.”