Tehran
TehranReuters

Iran has arrested a woman who was shown eating out without a headscarf in an image that went viral on social media during the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, her sister said Friday, according to AFP.

The picture showed Donya Rad sitting in a traditional Tehran restaurant apparently eating breakfast, in the company of a female friend who is also without a headscarf.

The image was widely shared on social media by users who applauded the two women for their civil disobedience in the face of the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.

"Yesterday after this photo was published, the security agencies contacted my sister Donya Rad and asked her to give some explanations," her sister Dina wrote on Twitter.

"Today, after going where she was told, she was arrested. After a few hours of silence, Donya told me in a short call that she was transferred to ward 209 of Evin prison," she said, referring to a notorious wing of the Tehran jail which is reputedly run by the intelligence ministry.

"Our family is very concerned about her wellbeing," she added.

Rad’s arrest comes as protests continue over the death of Amini, who died earlier this month following her arrest by the country's strict morality police who enforce the rules for the obligatory hijab.

Amini's death sparked a wave of online criticism, with users noting that the injuries seen in a photo of her in a hospital bed point towards cranial injury as the cause of death, rather than a cardiac event as Iranian authorities had claimed.

Persian media outside Iran have over the last days pointed to growing images of civil disobedience, with women in Iran sharing images of themselves walking, shopping or in cafes without headscarves.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday condemned the "chaos" sparked by the wave of women-led protests over Amini’s death.

"Those who took part in the riots must be dealt with decisively, this is the demand of the people," said Raisi, adding, "People's safety is the red line of the Islamic Republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law and cause chaos.”

"The enemy has targeted national unity and wants to pit people against each other," said Raisi, who accused the United States of stoking the unrest.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)