Two girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran face potential imprisonment or even the death penalty after being arrested for dancing

Image: Jihad Watch

Two young women were apprehended by police in Iran for sharing a video of themselves dancing.

The viral Instagram clip shows the two girls, who seem to be teenagers, allegedly dancing at the Monument to the Unknown Martyrs of the Sacred Defence war memorial in Tehran.

Designed by Italian architect Marcello D’Olivo, the monument honors those who lost their lives in the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1982.

Both women are dressed in jeans, with one wearing a knitted jumper and the other a blue top layered with a cardigan.

Iranian authorities have criticized the girls' outfits as "inappropriate," and both of their Instagram accounts have been blocked, according to Iran International.

Dancing has been prohibited under Iranian law since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which led to the overthrow of the secular monarchy and the establishment of theocratic rule under Ayatollah Khomeini, who passed away in 1989. His successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been Iran's Supreme Leader for the past 35 years.

The exact punishment for the two girls is still unclear, but under Article 637 of the Iranian Penal Code, public dancing, by either women or men, is deemed a "crime against public modesty" and can be punished with flogging, specifically 99 lashes.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)