Elika Ashoori cuts hair live on UK TV in protest at death of Mahsa Amini in Iran

Daughter of former Tehran detainee Anoosheh Ashoori tells Iranian women that 'we are all behind you'

Elika Ashoori has said her gesture 'pales to the bravery' that female protesters have shown in Iran. Photo: Shutterstock

The daughter of a man who was detained Tehran's notorious Evin Prison for almost five years has cut her hair live on British television to show solidarity with female protesters in Iran.

Elika Ashoori, the daughter of Anoosheh Ashoori, who was released alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in March, cut her hair on ITV's Lorraine on Thursday morning.

She cut her hair to show solidarity with thousands of Iranians who have taken to the streets in protest at the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22. She had been detained by morality police in Tehran for wearing her hijab “improperly”.

Since Ms Amini's death, many Iranian women have shared on social media videos and pictures of them cutting their hair and taking off their hijabs.

French actresses Juliette Binoche and Marion Cotillard have been among celebrities and politicians to cut their hair in solidarity.

Speaking on Lorraine, Ms Ashoori said: “I have brought a pair of scissors today to show my solidarity to my sisters in Iran and this pales to the bravery that they're showing in the streets, risking death.

“So, I'm going to cut my hair as well, just to show that we are all behind you.”

As she cut the other side of her hair, she added: “This one is for what the European, US and UK governments need to do with their trade and deals with Iran.

“They need to stop and cut everything. Just like that.”

Ms Ashoori said that western governments should impose sanctions on Iranian government officials in response to Amini's death.

She said: “Travel bans, freeze their assets, do not let them come to European countries, do not trade with them.

“Because of sanctions on Russia, the governments have gone to Iran for oil and they hope that with the nuclear deal actually happening they would then have an oil supply for the winter.

“But this is putting a Band-Aid on a wound that needs surgery.”

She also called on the British public to show solidarity with Iranian women, saying: “People need to not normalise pain and suffering in the Middle East.

“People have become desensitised when they see news come from the Middle East.

“They need to be enraged. They need to see what is happening to these girls as no different to what would happen anywhere in the world.

“What if they were your sisters, your daughters, your mothers?”

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