Iran frees actress who protested executions

Taraneh Alidoosti was free on bail today after her arrest for supporting an anti-government protester, local media reported Wednesday. Protests have popped up all over Iran since September when a 22-year-old woman died in police custody. Since then, the Iranian government has tried to quell the protests with crackdowns and death sentences. Alidoosti posted on her Instagram account several times in support of the first man who was executed last month in relation to the protests.

What’s happening to protesters? Since September, more than 500 protesters have died and more than 19,000 have been arrested, according to human rights activists in Iran. One Iranian chess player, Sara Khadem, might defect to Spain after playing in a tournament without her hijab, according to the Spanish newspaper El País. The paper reported that Khadem has received calls telling her not to go back to Iran.

Dig deeper: Read A.S. Ibrahim’s column in WORLD Opinions on what’s happening in the Iranian government.