The US pop star has expressed her solidarity with the Iranian protest movement, leading the country's state news agency to slam the superstar. This is part of the regime's social media strategy.
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It was one tweet among countless others expressing solidarity with the Iranian protest movement, which has been ongoing across Iran for nearly a month following the death of the young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini.
But it was written by Britney Spears.
"Me & my husband stand with the people of Iran fighting for freedom," tweeted the US pop star, who has been married to model, actor and fitness trainer Sam Asghari since June.
Ashari was born in Tehran and came to the US as a teenager. On his Instagram profile, he regularly publishes posts on the current situation in Iran. In one video, he criticized Iran's "terror regime."
Iranian news agency now trying to discredit Spears
The state-controlled Iranian news agency IRNA took Spears' tweet as an opportunity to recall that she had been under her father's conservatorship for several years and had mental health problems. Through this personal attack, they seem to suggest that Spears isn't qualified to make any statements on current affairs.
This social media strategy may be viewed as an attempt by the Iranian state media to distract the population from the bloody protests and shift the debate.
The Iranian news agency had previously employed the same strategy in reaction to a post by Colombian pop star Shakira. The singer had written on Twitter and Instagram that her heart was "with the family of Mahsa Amini and with the women and schoolgirls of Iran and with all those fighting for freedom of expression."
IRNA then posted a meme claiming that Shakira was ignoring police violence against women in the US and Saudi Arabia.
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Struggle for truth on social media
On its Twitter channel, the Iranian news agency, which is under the direction of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, openly criticizes stars who use their reach on social media to denounce the situation in Iran. The agency claims they are using their influence to produce "fake news."
Iran protests: Rallies and graffiti worldwide in support of Iranian women
Graffiti artists all over the globe are creating art in support of the women-led anti-government demonstrations raging in Iran for the past few weeks. Solidarity rallies are also being held in various cities worldwide.
Image: Francois Mori/AP/picture alliance
At the Iranian Embassy in Mexico City
A woman spray-paints messages against "macho country" Iran on a wall of the Iranian Embassy in Mexico City in solidarity with Iranian women and in memory of Jina Mahsa Amini — the 22-year-old woman who died in custody after she was detained by Iranian authorities for allegedly violating strict Islamic dress codes for women.
Image: Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto/picture alliance
At a demonstration in Frankfurt
Protests calling for the fall of the Islamic regime have swept the Middle Eastern nation following the death of the 22-year-old in mid September. Authorities have denied responsibility for Amini's death but few believe them. Many women have experienced the brutality of the so-called morality police. This image shows protesters taking to the streets in Frankfurt in support of Iranian women.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Simpsons in solidarity in Milan
In Iran and abroad, many women have been cutting off locks of their hair in a gesture of support for the protest movement. On a wall in the Italian city of Milan, directly opposite the Iranian consulate, Marge Simpson — a character in the animated sitcom "The Simpsons" — is shown doing the same. The picture was taken by street artist AleXsandro Palombo.
Image: Andrea Fasani/ANSA/EPA-EFE
Jina Mahsa Amini to become honorary citizen of Paris
In Paris, it's not just murals that commemorate Jina Mahsa Amini and the protest movement. The French capital is also planning to posthumously make Amini an honorary citizen, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has said. A location in the city would also be named after Amini "so that no one forgets her," she noted. "Paris will always be on the side of those who fight for their rights and their freedom."
Image: Francois Mori/AP/picture alliance
'Women, Life, Freedom' in Frankfurt
Artists from "Kollektiv ohne Namen" (Collective Without Names) have painted a picture of the Kurdish activist on a vacant building in Frankfurt. Next to it are the Kurdish words "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" — women, life, freedom. This is the omnipresent slogan of the demonstrators against the Islamic regime in Tehran, borrowed from the Kurdish feminist movement in Syria.
Image: Boris Roessler/dpa/picture alliance
Solidarity in Poland
The uprising of girls and women against their oppressors in Iran deserves solidarity, say many women worldwide. And they are taking to the streets around the world — as seen here in Krakow, Poland. In many places across the globe, women are disadvantaged or even discriminated against because of their gender. The idea of a feminist revolution in Iran has attracted their support.
Image: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/picture alliance
Protest performance by art students in Tehran
Art students from Azad University in Tehran protested in front of the art faculty building on Monday, October 9. The red paint on their hands symbolizes the bloody repression of the protests by the security forces.
Image: UGC/AFP
Desired domino effect
The protests following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini are not directed solely against the strict dress codes for girls and women. Throughout the country, demonstrators are questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic regime and chanting slogans like "Get rid of the mullahs" or "Death to the dictator," targeting the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Image: NNSRoj
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Spears and Shakira are not the only ones who have spoken out in support of the protests in Iran.
Model Bella Hadid, singer Justin Bieber and actresses Olivia Colman and Angelina Jolie have also raised their voices. Numerous celebrities have cut off locks of their hair as a sign of solidarity.
The 2022 winner of the German Book Prize, nonbinary author Kim de l'Horizon, went one step further: They shaved off all their hair during their acceptance speech in Frankfurt on October 18.
This article was originally written in German.
Correction, October 20, 2022: A previous version of this article misidentified the nationality of Shakira. DW apologizes for the error.