A mural depicting Marge Simpson cutting off her hair in solidarity with the protests in Iran has been removed.
AleXsandro Palombo, who painted the mural outside the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Italian city of Milan, condemned the eradication of his artwork as an “act of cowardice”.
Palombo’s mural, titled “The Cut”, sought to show solidarity with Mahsa Amini - a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who recently died in police custody in Iran.
Ms Amini was detained by the morality police for allegedly infringing Iran’s stringent rules on hijabs, sparking three weeks of protests, with authorities deploying riot troops and launching a crackdown on the internet.
Palombo, who frequently features the iconic Simpsons character Marge Simpson in his artwork, quipped Iran’s morality police - the force that monitors and arrests women who infringe the Islamic dress code - had travelled to Italy.
Palombo, the Italian pop artist behind the mural, said: “Looks like the morality police has arrived in Italy. Removing a street art mural made in solidarity with Mahsa Amini and all Iranian women who are fighting for their life and freedom is an act of incredible cowardice.
“The fact that the removal took place in a democratic country like Italy is of absolute gravity and indicates the desire to stifle its deepest meaning. We will not be intimidated by this despicable gesture.”
Ms Amini was arrested by the morality police in the Iranian capital of Tehran on 13 September, collapsing after being transported to a detention centre before dying later in hospital.
It comes after Human Rights Watch, a prominent global human rights organisation, recently told The Independent protests that have erupted across Iran could topple the morality police.
Rothna Begum, a senior researcher in the women’s rights division at the charity, said Iran’s morality police “could have their powers” removed because of the backlash they are facing.
Morality police, also known as the ‘guidance patrol’, have been “emboldened” in Iran in recent months and years, said Ms Begum, who specialises in the Middle East and north Africa.
Women’s rights are profoundly restricted in Iran and wearing a headscarf is compulsory in public for all women, with those who do not wear a hijab, or have some of their hair on display while wearing a hijab, facing punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment.
Many Iranian women have posted pictures and footage of them hacking off their hair with scissors or removing their hijabs on social media in the wake of the protests, while high-profile actors and politicians around the world have cut off their hair in a show of solidarity.
Last year, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, announced female cartoon or animated characters broadcast on Iranian television must be depicted wearing the hijab.
