POPULAR IRANIAN ACTRESS TO RECEIVE 50 LASHES FOR KISSING MAN ON CHEEK AT FILM FESTIVAL

Well known 42 year old Iranian actress Leila Hatami faces calls for her to be given 50 lashes over an innocent peck on the cheek at the Cannes Film Festival.

Hatami, was pictured receiving the casual greeting kiss from festival president Gilles Jacob as she arrived to take part in the judging.

But students with links to the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran are demanding that she be jailed and whipped over the brief encounter.

They say she also flouted their religious beliefs by appearing in public with her head bare.

Under Iran’s strict Islamic laws a man and a woman who are unrelated cannot embrace in public, and a woman should not have her
hair on display.
Now Leila faces the possibility of being ordered behind bars and flogged as she returns home to her film-star husband Ali Mosaffa, 47, and two young children.

A complaint demanding the award-winning actress faces the extreme punishment has been filed with religious prosecutors by the the radical Hizbollah Students organisation.

They claim she should be severely punished for "her sinful act of kissing a strange man in public, which according to article 638 of Islamic criminal justice carries a prison sentence".

Their petition adds: "She has hurt the religious sentiments of the proud and martyrs breeding nation of Iran and as such we also demand the punishment of flogging as stipulated in law."

Mr Jacobs tonight tried to defuse the furore, insisting he had initiated the kiss – as “a usual custom in the West”.

He said: “I kissed Mrs Hatami on the cheek. At that moment, for me she represented all Iranian cinema, then she became herself again.”

Mr Jacob has insisted there are no grounds for such a backlash.

“This controversy based on a normal Western custom is baseless,” he said.

Iran’s Deputy Culture Minister Hossein Noushabadi said Iranian women abroad should show “chastity and dignity”.

He said: “I hope that those who attend international arenas as Iranian women would be careful about the chastity and dignity of Iranians so that the image of the Iranian woman is not tainted before the world.

“If they respect Islamic norms and the national culture and beliefs of Iran, it would be a desirable thing for Iranian celebrities to go abroad, but if their presence lacks regard for social values and ethical criteria, the Iranian nation is not going to accept it.”

Hatami is the daughter of the late internationally acclaimed film director Ali Hatami, and is married to Iranian star Ali Mosaffa.

She gained worldwide recognition for her role in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, which won the 2012 Academy Award for best foreign language film.

Hatami is one of five women members on the Palme d’Or prize jury, which includes actress Carole Bouquet and directors Sofia Coppola and jury president Jane Campion.