In May 2014 a group of young performers were arrested in Iran for participating in a video tribute to Pharell Williams’ ‘Happy’, and actress Leila Hatami was threatened with a public flogging for kissing Cannes Film Festival President Gilles Jacob on the cheek. 

These are not the first violations of the right to freedom of artistic expression by the Iranian state. In November 2013, actress Pegah Ahangarani was sentenced to 18 months in jail for the alleged crime of 'action against national security and links to foreign media'. In 2011 Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to 90 lashes and one year in jail for starring in the Australian film My Tehran for Sale, and several other actors and directors have been persecuted and imprisoned by the regime. 

Hugh Robertson MP is a Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with responsiblity for the Middle East and North Africa. Please join us in calling on him to support the right to freedom of artistic expression in Iran.