Tehran: Police have detained Shervin Hajipour, whose song went viral and became the rallying cry for anti-government demonstrations in Iran. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
It was also unclear what accusations had been made against the young singer, according to the news website Radio Farda.
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The stirring song, which Hajipour shared on Instagram a few days before his arrest on September 29, describes the state of affairs in the Islamic Republic today and was inspired by Mahsa Amini's passing while being held by the morality police.
Before it was taken down, Hajipour's song had amassed more than 40 million views on Instagram and had gained popularity on other social media sites.
Following Amini's passing, Iranians took to Twitter to express their grief. Many of them blamed the country's clerical leadership for the current social, economic, and political issues.
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— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) September 29, 2022
One of the tweets in Hajipour's song read, "For the shame of having no money."
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Another tweet read, "For the fear of kissing a lover on the street."
Another line of the lyrics read, "For the political prisoners."
According to Radio Farda, female artist Donya Rad was also detained by Iranian authorities after she uploaded a photo of herself dining out in Tehran without a head scarf, which quickly gained popularity on social media.
Donya was allegedly taken to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, according to Rad's sister.