Marzieh Vafamehr also given one-year jail term for appearing in My Tehran for Sale with a shaved head and without a hijab

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

For one Iranian actor, life is mirroring art, in the most gruesome of ways. Two years ago Marzieh Vafamehr starred in a film about an actor whose theatre work is banned in Iran.

Now she faces a year in prison and 90 lashes after Iranian officials took exception to the film, which is itself banned inside the country.

Her crime? Appearing in an Australian film which is critical of the Islamic regime with her head uncovered.

Vafamehr, wife of the acclaimed film-maker Nasser Taghvai, was arrested in July after starring in My Tehran for Sale, which touches on many of the taboo issues of modern life in Iran.

"A sentence of one year in jail and 90 lashes has been issued for Marzieh Vafamehr," said a report published on Kaleme.com, a news website close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Her lawyer has appealed against the sentence, it said.

Iranian human rights activists have reacted with outrage to her conviction and in particular the fact that she faces 90 lashes. It comes only two days after a student activist, Peyman Aref, was lashed 74 times in Tehran's Evin prison for insulting the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The film, directed by Granaz Moussavi, features Vafamehr as an actor who flees to Australia as an illegal immigrant after being persecuted in Iran.

She appears with a shaved head and without a hijab in some scenes.

In the film, an underground party where men and women dance and drink is disrupted by a group of moral police who arrest some of the partygoers.

My Tehran for Sale premiered at the Adelaide film festival in 2009 but remains banned in Iran.

The Australian producers of the film, Julie Ryan and Kate Crose, said they were appalled by Vafamehr's sentence in a statement issued on Tuesday.

"We would like to express our deep shock and sadness at the sentence imposed by the Iranian government against actress Marzieh Vafamehr," said the statement.

"And we continue to offer our support to Marzieh and her family by respecting their wishes to let the case and the appeal follow the proper legal channels."

Parviz Jahed, an Iranian film critic based in London, said Vafamehr's sentence was a "disgrace" for Iranian officials and a "tragedy" for the country's film industry.

"It is a tragedy for an actress to be lashed and imprisoned solely for playing a role in a film," he told the Guardian.

"Iran is creating an atmosphere in which an actor will have fear for his or her future after starring in a film.

"Other actors in the world are enjoying their career while Iranian actors should worry about the consequences of appearing in a film."

Jahed described Vafamehr as a "hostage" held by Iranian officials rather than a prisoner.

"They have no access to the film's producers in Australia, so they want to take revenge from its actress instead, she's taken as a ransom," he said.

It is said that Iranian officials allege the film was illegally produced inside the country, but director Moussavi said she had all the necessary permits.

"The accusations against Marzieh have no grounds," Moussavi said. "All the documentation has been provided to the Iranian court to show that permits were in place for the production of the film."

In response to reports about Vafamehr's uncovered head, Moussavi said in an interview with an Australian newspaper: "It was not necessary to have the conventional hijab because technically there's no hair … It's a very harsh outcome for something that is not written in law."

The Australian government condemned Vafamehr's sentence on Tuesday and said it was "deeply concerned" by it.

In September, Iran arrested four documentary film-makers and a distributor accused of secretly working for the London-based BBC Persian TV channel, but released two of them last week.

Other members of Iran's film industry have also been arrested in recent years. Pegah Ahangarani, a popular actor was released from jail in July. Director Jafar Panahi received a six-year prison term and 20-year ban from film-making last year. Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in jail. Ramin Parchami, an actor who voiced support for the opposition, still remains in jail.

In relation to the punishment meted out to Peyman Aref, Ahmadinejad criticised the flogging, saying that high-profile political figures often criticise the government with impunity.

Iran's embassy in London did not return Guardian phone calls asking for comment over Vafamehr's sentence.