Iranian teen girls hunted by police for posting viral TikTok dance to Selena Gomez song

A group of Iranian teenage girls are being sought by police for posting a TikTok video of them dancing to Selena Gomez’s song.

This widely shared video shows five teenage girls without headscarves dancing in front of a tower block in western Tehran to Selena Gomez and Nigerian singer Rema’s song “Calm Down”.

A still from a social media video showing five Iranian teenage girls dancing to a song by Selena Gomez. (Twitter/@shahrak_ekbatan)

The song was released last Wednesday, March 8, which was International Women’s Day.

Iranian-Canadian journalist Mazir Bahari said the video would be considered normal in most cities around the world, but in Iran, “it is an act of defiance.”

“I wonder if @heisrema is aware that her song #CalmDown is the backdrop to an incredibly courageous act of defiance by young Iranian women?” Canadian journalist Nahayat Tijhoosh tweeted. “It started when 5 girls danced to his music in @shahrak_ekbatan – risking persecution by a regime that murdered women just for protesting.”

The OneButton Twitter account that posts incidents in the neighborhood warned Friday that the girls could face possible arrest and detention.

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The account said that Iranian security forces were reviewing CCTV footage and questioning guards in the tower block to identify the girls.

The neighborhood has been the center of protests in recent months, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. A 22-year-old Iranian woman died in police custody on September 22, 2022, following her arrest for not wearing her headscarf properly.

A demonstrator shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up for their leadership over the death of a young woman in police custody in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morisard)

Meanwhile, hundreds of young Iranian girls studying in different schools are concerned about toxic fumes rising in their classrooms.

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Officials in Iran’s theocracy initially dismissed the reports, but later described them as deliberate attacks involving some 30 schools, with some estimating they were aimed at schools for girls in this country of more than 80 million people. Might have to try turning it off.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.