Sex scandal in Tehran

One of Iran’s most popular television personalities is caught up in a steamy sex scandal. Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, whose popular TV dramas are often watched by two thirds of the Islamic Republic, has found herself the unwitting star of a different kind of show: a porn video. The DVD of the film, in which 25-year-old Ebrahim is apparently shown having sex at home with her then-fiancee, has sold an incredible 100,000 copies on Iran’s black market in the past few months, even at the fairly expensive price of $13. 

Obviously, Iran’s leaders aren’t letting such flagrant flouting of the country’s strict morality laws go unpunished. Ebrahimi faces potential lashing for having sex outside of marriage, and her partner, who has been extradicted from Armenia to face charges, could be thrown in jail for three years. Ebrahimi is fighting back by denying that she’s even the woman in the video. 

I watched the film after I heard about the fuss from colleagues and the girl in it is not me,” Ebrahimi said….”It is possible to use studio make-up to have a person look like me. I have some knowledge of montage techniques and I know you can create a new face by distorting the features of another person.”

Still, Ehrahimi is under self-imposed house arrest for now.