Billboard Featuring Prominent Women From Sports And Arts Removed Under 24h After It Was Installed

A billboard featuring prominent Iranian women from the fields of sports and arts has been removed less than a day after it was installed.

The move comes after a number of the women reportedly requested that their faces be removed from the billboard, titled “Women of my land”, which had been erected on Thursday, 13th October, on Waliasr street in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Mehrdad Moazzami, Director of Public Relations of the Owj Arts and Media Organization, which installed the billboard and which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Twitter on Thursday evening: “Regarding the modification of the current design of the mural, the new design will be unveiled tonight […].”

Photo shows a billboard with the faces of several Iranian women, undated photo. The billboard in Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran, with the title “Women of my land, the famous women of Iran”, was taken down a day after it was displayed after several of the famous faces on this bilboard asked for their photos to be removed. (@owjmedia_org/Newsflash)

In the meantime, a new billboard without any photographs has reportedly been installed.

The famous Iranian women who asked to have their images removed from the mural reportedly include Marzieh Boroumand, 71, an Iranian actress and director; Iranian mountaineer Parvaneh Kazemi, 51; Iranian actress Zhaleh Olov, 95; and Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, 60.

The move was reportedly supported by male Iranian actor Parviz Parastui, 67, who published a letter written by Zhaleh Olov.

Parastui reportedly advised the officials of the Owj Arts and Media Organization to respect Zhaleh Olov’s request because they had not received her prior permission to use her image.

Mahsa Amini, 22, was declared brain dead and died in hospital three days after she was beaten by Iran’s morality police.

She had apparently been detained for what was described as a ‘re-education class’ after she was arrested next to a metro station in Tehran for failing to adhere to Iran’s strict hijab rules on 13th September.

Hours later she was in hospital with a skull fracture “caused by a direct blow” and internal bleeding, according to hacked CT scans obtained by a London-based news organisation known as Iran International.

Doctors went on to say that Mahsa had blood and fluid in her lungs because she went into a coma soon after receiving a blow to the head, according to the news organisation.

Photo shows a billboard with the faces of several Iranian women, undated photo. The billboard in Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran, with the title “Women of my land, the famous women of Iran”, was taken down a day after it was displayed after several of the famous faces on this bilboard asked for their photos to be removed. (Newsflash)

United States National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, wrote in a tweet that Iranian authorities should be held accountable for human rights violations.

Tehran officials reportedly at first said that Mahsa died of a heart attack and went on to say that she suffered from epilepsy, a claim that her father has denied.

All women, including tourists, have had to wear a headscarf in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The protests her death sparked are ongoing and, according to the non-profit Iran Human Rights, at least 201 people, including 23 children, have been killed so far, according to its latest figures released on 12th October.

A growing list of celebrities have voiced their support for the protests and for Mahsa.

They include former First Lady of the United States and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, British Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, American model Bella Hadid, Hollywood icon Sharon Stone, pop star Justin Bieber, Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, Kim Kardashian, Turkish singer Melek Mosso, Penelope Cruz, Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, actress Eva Mendes, and the British Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, among others.