Iran files case against two actors for shaking hands at film festival

Iran’s judiciary has filed a legal case against filmmaker Marzieh Boroumand and actor Reza Babak for shaking hands on stage at the state-run Fajr Film Festival, breaking the country's strict Islamic laws.

A report by the judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency said legal proceedings on the case took place in "recent days" but did not provide further details.

Boroumand, a filmmaker and puppeteer, is best known for her contributions to children's television, while Babak is a veteran actor in Iranian theater, television, and cinema industry.

Under Iran’s Islamic laws, physical contact between unrelated men and women is generally prohibited in public, including handshakes.

While enforcement of the law varies, authorities have prosecuted public figures in the past for similar incidents.

In 2015, Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani was charged with "indecent conduct" and "illegitimate sexual relations" after allegedly shaking hands with her male lawyer.

At the time, Amnesty International condemned the charges against Faraghdani saying, “It is clearly both absurd and a violation of the right to privacy to consider a man and a woman shaking hands as a criminal offence.”