When Iranian actress and director Sadaf Taherian began posting photos of herself without her hijab to social media sites, she was worried.

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She told Masih Alinejad, a journalist who runs the My Stealthy Freedom Facebook page, that she was nervous about the backlash she could face for posing without a traditional Muslim head cover. But she had no idea leaders from her own country would condemn and attack her so viciously that she'd be forced to flee her home.

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But that's exactly what happened soon after Taherian posted her photos to Instagram and Facebook. Women in the World reports the attacks didn't stop at nameless Internet trolls. Soon, officials within the Iranian government were joining in, going so far as to threaten her career. When another actress, Chekame Chaman-Mah, spoke out on Taherian's behalf, the government moved to ban both of them from appearing on television.

Hossein Noushabadi, Iran's ministry of culture and lslamic guidance, lashed out at them in public. "As far as this ministry is concerned, these two individuals are no longer considered to be artists any more and do not have any right to act," Noushabadi said. That's when Taherian's television show was removed from the airwaves.

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Because of the threats and attacks, Taherian no longer felt comfortable staying in Iran, so she fled to the United Arab Emirates. "I want to live in a place and live the way that makes me happy," she said. She still continues to post photos to Facebook without her hijab.

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Taherian said she was shocked and disappointed at the severity of the online backlash.

"I did not expect this from the people of Iran, from my own culture," she said. "To hear so many insults—I honestly cannot respond to them in the same way. I can only feel sorry for their reaction and I have nothing else to say."

Rebecca Rose Writer I'm a writer for Cosmopolitan.com manning the fort during the night shift (because I love staying up late and hate getting up early in the morning).

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