The daughter of a man who was detained in Iran for almost five years has cut her hair live on television in solidarity with female protesters in the Middle East country.
Elika Ashoori, the daughter of Anoosheh Ashoori, who was released from an Iranian prison alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in March, cut her hair live on ITV’s Lorraine on Thursday morning.
She cut her hair to show solidarity with thousands of Iranians who have taken to the streets in protest at the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by police in the capital Tehran for allegedly not adhering to Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.
Since Ms Amini’s death, many Iranian women have shared videos and pictures of them cutting their hair or taking off their hijabs on social media.
Speaking on Lorraine, Ms Ashoori said: “I have brought a pair of scissors today to show my solidarity to my sisters in Iran and this pales to the bravery that they’re showing in the streets, risking death.
“So I’m going to cut my hair as well, just to show that we are all behind you.”
As she cut the other side of her hair, she added: “This one is for what the European, US and UK governments need to do with their trade and deals with Iran.
“They need to stop and cut everything. Just like that.”
Ms Ashoori said that western governments should sanction Iranian government officials.
She said: “We know that there have been sanctions on Iran but there needs to be sanctions on the officials of the government. Travel bans, freeze their assets, do not let them come to European countries, do not trade with them.
“Because of the sanctions on Russia, the governments have gone to Iran for oil and they hope that with the nuclear deal actually happening they would then have an oil supply for the winter. But this is putting a Band-Aid on a wound that needs surgery.”
She also called on the British public to show solidarity with Iranian women, saying: “People need to not normalise pain and suffering in the Middle East.
What if they were your sisters, your daughters, your mothers?— Elika Ashoori
“People have become desensitised when they see news come from the Middle East.
“They need to be enraged. They need to see what is happening to these girls as no different to what would happen anywhere in the world.
“What if they were your sisters, your daughters, your mothers?”
Ms Ashoori is the latest of many women who have cut their hair in solidarity with the protesters.
On Wednesday, Iranian-born Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani cut off her ponytail during a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
More than 50 high-profile French women, including actress Marion Cotillard and Julie Gayet, wife of former French president Francois Hollande, filmed themselves cutting their hair in a compilation video which appeared on Instagram on Wednesday morning.
