Iranian sex tape scandal
Encyclopedia
The so-called Iranian sex tape scandal involves the public outcry and judicial proceedings against Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
, an actress who appeared in the soap opera
Narges
, and an associate producer, accused of appearing together in an explicit sex tape, allegedly filmed for private consumption with a camcorder
, a serious crime under Iranian laws. The actress denies that the tape is of her, while the film producer reportedly has claimed that it is him. The scandal virtually ended the actress's career; she was banned from Iranian films in 2006.
The case served as a catalyst to prompt the lower house of the Parliament of Iran
to pass a bill making the production of sexually explicit media, even for private consumption, an offense punishable by death
.
ian soap opera
actress at the time, whom he claimed is the woman in the tape. Neither of the suspects were named by the Islamic Republic News Agency
, the state-run news agency in Tehran
. The man was referred to in the Iranian media as "Mr. X". The actress denied that the woman in the film is her, and accused her ex-fiancé of releasing a pornographic film featuring himself and a lookalike
to damage her career.
The tape was reportedly made in 2004, although it only came to prominence in early-2006. It has seen wide distribution on DVD
and over the internet
in Iran. An estimated 100,000 copies are in circulation, grossing $4 million dollars, a record in the history of the Iranian film industry. The assistant film producer appearing in the tape has said that he accidentally forgot to delete the footage from his hard drive when he sold his laptop.
's hardline chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi
has even intervened, ordering a special investigation. Iranian politician Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi
also became involved, demanding Ebrahimi (but not Mr. X) be stoned to death
. Ebrahimi was interrogated at length by the Iranian authorities, but was never charged with any crime. While Narges was on hiatus while the scandal broke, producers of two films in which Ebrahimi starred were advised by Iranian authorities not to release the films while the investigation was ongoing. As of 2010, these films still had not been released. One of them, Journey to Hidalou was reviewed for compliance with Islamic law by Javad Shamaqdari
, Iran's deputy culture minister for film. He said that the film was a good one, but could not be released with Ebrahimi in it, and suggested that her scenes be re-shot with a different actress. The film's director, Mojataba Raei, has reportedly refused to re-shoot Ebrahimi's scenes. Shamaqdari suggested it would take a religious fatwa
to approve Ebrahimi's films for release.
For a time Ebrahimi
was rumored to have attempted suicide
because of all the negative media attention after her police interrogation
. The worry that something may have happened to her grew worse when she was forbidden from speaking in public by the Iranian authorities. To quell the rumor, she ultimately made a statement to the ILNA news agency: "I just want to tell my country’s people that I am alive. I should think of Iranian women’s strength and defend the respect of the girls and women of my nation." Even months and years after the scandal first broke, the case became a cultural touchstone in Iran, much in the same way the O. J. Simpson murder case
had been in the United States, acting as a lightning rod for people to talk about changing attitudes toward sexuality and state authority in private life. While the response of the conservative government was one of outrage, many Iranians viewed the scandal coolly, and were reluctant to place blame on the woman in the tape.
Ebrahimi flatly denies that she is the woman in the tape. In an interview with the Guardian UK
, she said, "I watched the film after I heard about the fuss from colleagues and the girl in it is not me. I admit there are some similarities to the character I played in Narges. It is possible to use studio make-up to have a person look like me. I have some knowledge of montage techniques and I know you can create a new face by distorting the features of another person."
. After Iranian investigators requested he be arrested, the man was apprehended and extradited
shortly afterwards. He was reported to have claimed that he and the woman in the film were temporarily married
at the time. Under the precepts of Shi'a Islam
, sex during temporary marriage is permitted. Nevertheless, "Mr. X" was tried and imprisoned. The legal fate of the others arrested in this investigation, whether they were eventually exonerated or not, went unreported in the news media.
While Ebrahimi was banned from appearing in films or on television, no formal charges were ever filed against her. An Iranian judiciary official was quoted as saying: "It depends on finding out whether she had a deliberate role in the case ... If so, it is going to be dealt with as a case of corruption and prostitution." Some legal experts believed Ebrahimi’s denial would have been enough to avoid a guilty verdict had she been tried. Under Iranian law, film and video footage must be supported by additional evidence or a confession. Ebrahimi has stated that she fears her career in the Iranian entertainment industry may be over. If the actress (or another woman) were to have been charged and convicted, the punishment could have been severe. A woman found guilty of having sex outside marriage can face a penalty of up to 99 lashes
with a leather strap.
In a similar situation, one Iranian actor was banned after he was filmed dancing at a wedding reception with the bride (to whom he was not related).
While the west in the 21st century has been fairly inundated with such news, this was widely acknowledged by western news sources to have been the first celebrity sex tape scandal
in Iran. Inside Iran, however, people claim that there have been others before this, but that this is the first one that was publicly acknowledged, and the first time the legal authorities decided to do something about it.
voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill that could make the production of and participation in pornographic media an offense punishable by death
. To become law, the bill still required the approval of Iran's Guardian Council
. In 2009, news outlets began reporting the arrest of suspects under this law, so presumably it has been approved. The bill's drafting is widely believed to be a direct response to this sex tape scandal.
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi is an Iranian professional photographer, television actress and short movies director.She studied teather in Tehran, and started her professional life with making short movies. She made her first movie when she was only eighteen. She became very popular shortly after her first...
, an actress who appeared in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Narges
Narges
Narges , is the name of a popular Iranian TV program. This was supposed to be the first 90-episode drama on Islamic Republic of Iran's TV with such a story line, but further on the series finished in 69 episodes which was still the longest series in its kind broadcast so far.Poupak Goldareh, who...
, and an associate producer, accused of appearing together in an explicit sex tape, allegedly filmed for private consumption with a camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
, a serious crime under Iranian laws. The actress denies that the tape is of her, while the film producer reportedly has claimed that it is him. The scandal virtually ended the actress's career; she was banned from Iranian films in 2006.
The case served as a catalyst to prompt the lower house of the Parliament of Iran
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
to pass a bill making the production of sexually explicit media, even for private consumption, an offense punishable by death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
.
The tape
The tape graphically depicts twenty minutes of sex between a woman and a man in a small room with a narrow bed. The man who admitted to his role in the tape is an assistant film producer who was engaged to an IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
actress at the time, whom he claimed is the woman in the tape. Neither of the suspects were named by the Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamic Republic News Agency
The Islamic Republic News Agency , or IRNA, is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is government-funded and controlled under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The agency also publishes the newspaper Iran. , the Managing Director of IRNA is Ali Akbar...
, the state-run news agency in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. The man was referred to in the Iranian media as "Mr. X". The actress denied that the woman in the film is her, and accused her ex-fiancé of releasing a pornographic film featuring himself and a lookalike
Look-alike
A look-alike is a person who closely resembles another person. In popular Western culture, a look-alike is a person who bears a close physical resemblance to a celebrity, politician or member of royalty. Many look-alikes earn a living by making guest appearances at public events or performing on...
to damage her career.
The tape was reportedly made in 2004, although it only came to prominence in early-2006. It has seen wide distribution on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and over the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in Iran. An estimated 100,000 copies are in circulation, grossing $4 million dollars, a record in the history of the Iranian film industry. The assistant film producer appearing in the tape has said that he accidentally forgot to delete the footage from his hard drive when he sold his laptop.
Response
The tape and the publicity surrounding it caused a massive scandal in Iran, such that Iran's fundamentalist clerics have labeled it a "national shame". TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
's hardline chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi
Saeed Mortazavi
Saeed Murtazavi is a controversial Iranian jurist and former prosecutor of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and Prosecutor General of Tehran, a position he has held from 2003 to 2009. He has been called as "butcher of the press" and "torturer of Tehran" by some observers...
has even intervened, ordering a special investigation. Iranian politician Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi
Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi
Ayatollah Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi is an Iranian politician and cleric, previously the Minister of Intelligence of Islamic Republic of Iran...
also became involved, demanding Ebrahimi (but not Mr. X) be stoned to death
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
. Ebrahimi was interrogated at length by the Iranian authorities, but was never charged with any crime. While Narges was on hiatus while the scandal broke, producers of two films in which Ebrahimi starred were advised by Iranian authorities not to release the films while the investigation was ongoing. As of 2010, these films still had not been released. One of them, Journey to Hidalou was reviewed for compliance with Islamic law by Javad Shamaqdari
Javad Shamaqdari
Javad Shamaqdari is an Iranian filmmaker and "deputy culture minister of film" to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has attacked the film 300 as psychological warfare and accused American 'cultural authorities' and Hollywood of attacking Iranian culture....
, Iran's deputy culture minister for film. He said that the film was a good one, but could not be released with Ebrahimi in it, and suggested that her scenes be re-shot with a different actress. The film's director, Mojataba Raei, has reportedly refused to re-shoot Ebrahimi's scenes. Shamaqdari suggested it would take a religious fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
to approve Ebrahimi's films for release.
For a time Ebrahimi
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi is an Iranian professional photographer, television actress and short movies director.She studied teather in Tehran, and started her professional life with making short movies. She made her first movie when she was only eighteen. She became very popular shortly after her first...
was rumored to have attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
because of all the negative media attention after her police interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
. The worry that something may have happened to her grew worse when she was forbidden from speaking in public by the Iranian authorities. To quell the rumor, she ultimately made a statement to the ILNA news agency: "I just want to tell my country’s people that I am alive. I should think of Iranian women’s strength and defend the respect of the girls and women of my nation." Even months and years after the scandal first broke, the case became a cultural touchstone in Iran, much in the same way the O. J. Simpson murder case
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
had been in the United States, acting as a lightning rod for people to talk about changing attitudes toward sexuality and state authority in private life. While the response of the conservative government was one of outrage, many Iranians viewed the scandal coolly, and were reluctant to place blame on the woman in the tape.
Ebrahimi flatly denies that she is the woman in the tape. In an interview with the Guardian UK
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, she said, "I watched the film after I heard about the fuss from colleagues and the girl in it is not me. I admit there are some similarities to the character I played in Narges. It is possible to use studio make-up to have a person look like me. I have some knowledge of montage techniques and I know you can create a new face by distorting the features of another person."
Prosecution
In December 2006, eight people were arrested as part of the official investigation. The man in the tape, "Mr. X", who was believed to have been the one to disseminate it to the public, albeit accidentally, initially fled the country, taking up residence in ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. After Iranian investigators requested he be arrested, the man was apprehended and extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
shortly afterwards. He was reported to have claimed that he and the woman in the film were temporarily married
Nikah mut‘ah
' , is a fixed-term marriage in Shi'a Islam. The duration of this type of marriage is fixed at its inception and is then automatically dissolved upon completion of its term. The marriage is contractual and is subject to renewal...
at the time. Under the precepts of Shi'a Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, sex during temporary marriage is permitted. Nevertheless, "Mr. X" was tried and imprisoned. The legal fate of the others arrested in this investigation, whether they were eventually exonerated or not, went unreported in the news media.
While Ebrahimi was banned from appearing in films or on television, no formal charges were ever filed against her. An Iranian judiciary official was quoted as saying: "It depends on finding out whether she had a deliberate role in the case ... If so, it is going to be dealt with as a case of corruption and prostitution." Some legal experts believed Ebrahimi’s denial would have been enough to avoid a guilty verdict had she been tried. Under Iranian law, film and video footage must be supported by additional evidence or a confession. Ebrahimi has stated that she fears her career in the Iranian entertainment industry may be over. If the actress (or another woman) were to have been charged and convicted, the punishment could have been severe. A woman found guilty of having sex outside marriage can face a penalty of up to 99 lashes
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
with a leather strap.
In a similar situation, one Iranian actor was banned after he was filmed dancing at a wedding reception with the bride (to whom he was not related).
While the west in the 21st century has been fairly inundated with such news, this was widely acknowledged by western news sources to have been the first celebrity sex tape scandal
Celebrity sex tape
A celebrity sex tape is typically an amateur pornographic video recording involving one or more celebrity famous person which has been, intentionally or unintentionally, made available publicly....
in Iran. Inside Iran, however, people claim that there have been others before this, but that this is the first one that was publicly acknowledged, and the first time the legal authorities decided to do something about it.
Subsequent legislation
In June 2007, the Parliament of IranMajlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill that could make the production of and participation in pornographic media an offense punishable by death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. To become law, the bill still required the approval of Iran's Guardian Council
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council of the Constitution , also known as the Guardian Council or Council of Guardians, is an appointed and constitutionally-mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran....
. In 2009, news outlets began reporting the arrest of suspects under this law, so presumably it has been approved. The bill's drafting is widely believed to be a direct response to this sex tape scandal.
Further reading
- "Zahra Amir Ebrahimi talks with the BBC about the video which almost cost her life" at Iranian.comIranian.comIranian.com, also known as The Iranian and The Iranian Times, is an online English language magazine.Founded in July 1995 by entrepreneur/journalist Jahanshah Javid, Iranian.com has the largest online following among Iranians residing in North America, with about 68,000 visitors per month-Awards...
, January 2, 2010.