A stallholder in northern Iran who became a viral Internet sensation by showing off his unexpectedly dexterous dance moves has run into problems with the Islamic republic authorities who frown upon dancing in public.
The man, reportedly around 70, built up tens of thousands of followers on Instagram with videos showing him shaking his hips at the market in the northern city of Rasht close to the Caspian Sea.
People are seen cheering and clapping as the white-haired man, named as Sadegh Bagheri and known to followers as “Sadegh Booghi”, breaks it down amid the unlikely surroundings of the fresh fish stalls.
But the Iranian authorities blocked his Instagram account, as well as other accounts that had promoted his videos, according to Persian media based outside Iran including Iran Wire and Iran International.
Instead, a warning reportedly appearing on the accounts saying they contained “criminal content”.
The reports said the man and a dozen influencers who promoted the video were arrested but this has been denied by the Iranian authorities.
ISNA news agency, quoting the public relations department of police in the northern Gilan province, described the reports of arrests and sealing of shops as “false”.
But without giving details it added: “People who violated norms in cyberspace were warned within the framework of the law.”
Since the closing of his Instagram account, videos said to have been shot inside Iran have multiplied of men and women mimicking his dance moves in solidarity.
In some of the videos, women are seen dancing bareheaded, defying the obligation to wear the hijab and prohibition on dancing in public for women.
“A group of women and girls in Iran filmed a video of themselves dancing in solidarity with ‘Sadegh Booghi’… whose Instagram page was shut down by authorities,” said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, adding that he had some 128,000 followers.
Authorities in Iran are highly sensitive to any such social movement erupting following the protests that began in September 2022 over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.
