Concern grows for Iran woman detained over underwear protest

PARIS

A woman flashes a thumbs-up as she takes part in a protest gathering called by the "Woman Life Freedom Collective" (Femme Vie Liberte) and the Association Phenix in support of the Iranian student, believed to be named Ahou Daryaei, arrested after stripping to her underwear in Tehran, by the Pantheon monument near the Sorbonne University in Paris on Nov. 5, 2025.

Alarm is growing over the fate of an Iranian student who was arrested after stripping down to her underwear in protest over alleged harassment regarding her dress.

Activists fear the authorities may attempt to confine her in a psychiatric institution, a tactic often used to suppress dissent in the country.

The incident, which unfolded on the campus of Tehran's prestigious Islamic Azad University on Saturday, was captured on video and shared widely on social media. In the footage, the student, dressed only in her bra and underpants, is seen defiantly walking down the street before being bundled into an unmarked car by plainclothes agents.

According to Persian-language media outside Iran, the student was protesting against university security guards who had reportedly harassed her over her attire, going so far as to rip off her headscarf and clothing.

It remains unclear where she is being held.

Many activists regard her as a new icon of the struggle for women's rights in Iran, more than two years after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of the statutory dress code for women, sparked months of nationwide protests.

However, the Iranian authorities have alleged that the student has a mental disorder, raising concerns that this could be a pretext for confining her in a psychiatric institution, a tactic frequently used to suppress dissent in the country.

Amnesty International has called for the student's immediate and unconditional release, stating that she "removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials."

"Iranian authorities systematically use involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation as a tool to suppress dissent, branding protesters as mentally unstable to undermine their credibility," said Hadi Ghaemi, the director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

The student's actions have resonated globally, with the video capturing the imagination of celebrities, including French film star Marion Cotillard and Iran-born, France-based actor Golshifteh Farahani, who praised her bravery and defiance in the face of oppression.

Several dozen people protested in Paris on Tuesday in support of the woman, with members of the feminist collective Femen stripping to their underwear and brandishing "Woman. Life. Freedom" slogans.

"We have no news of her. But what we do know is that the regime's script is in full swing and she is now being presented as crazy and hysterical," said Chirinne Ardakani, lawyer and member of the Iran Justice collective that organised the demonstration.

Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi accused the authorities of "repeating the same threadbare scenario that the protester has a mental disorder", and saying transferring such people to mental hospitals was "the most severe torture".

Fellow Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, who remains in Tehran's Evin prison, said the student had turned her body into a "symbol of dissent".

"Women pay the price for defiance, but we do not bow down to force... I call for her freedom and an end to the harassment of women," Mohammadi said in a message from prison posted on her social media channels.