American porn actress Whitney Wright, an outspoken Palestinian supporter since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, recently visited Tehran.
During her visit, Wright reportedly made comments blaming the safety risks women in Iran are exposed to on political dissidents for not obeying Iran's modesty laws, according to numerous media reports and social media posts made by American-Iranian activist and journalist Masih Alinejad.
Wright, on a post featuring a photograph of herself in modest clothing at the now-abandoned US embassy in Iran, wrote, “If you respect the law, you will be safe in Iran.” The embassy had been abandoned after the 1979 hostage crisis, where staff had been held hostage for 444 days. The site is now run by the IRGC.
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“I’m sharing exhibits from a museum that are never seen,” Wright wrote on Instagram. “It’s not an endorsement of the government.”
While Wright denied that visiting the museum meant she endorsed the Iranian regime, Iran International published that she posted a picture of former IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were both killed in a US drone strike.
In addition, Wright reportedly criticized Iranian authorities for not installing any picture of Palestinian "revolutionaries" like Ghassan Kanafani or PLFP terrorists George Habash and Leila Khaled.
Wright also posted a picture of former IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani and his comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who were both killed in a US drone strike, criticizing Iranian authorities for not installing any picture of Palestinian "revolutionaries" like Kanafani and Habash on… pic.twitter.com/ydO3DEFZjQ
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 3, 2024
Wright also posted a picture of former IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani and his comrade Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who were both killed in a US drone strike, criticizing Iranian authorities for not installing any picture of Palestinian "revolutionaries" like Kanafani and Habash on… pic.twitter.com/ydO3DEFZjQ
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 3, 2024
In response to the comment, Alinejad posted, "Iranian women don’t want to obey a discriminatory law. Rosa Parks stood up against racist laws in America and became a symbol of resistance.
"We the women of Iran want be like Rosa Parks and not Whitney Wright. And by the way, the true warmongers are the agents of the Islamic Republic who will execute you if you be true to yourself."
American porn star Whitney Wright is in Iran, my birth country, where women are killed for simply showing their hair and being true to themselves. Whitney has published several photos on herself completely covered up on Instagram. On her post she called me a warmonger and tells… pic.twitter.com/MwBBsVorBJ
— Masih Alinejad ️ (@AlinejadMasih) February 4, 2024
AP News reported that while Wright confidently filmed herself traveling through the capital city, her work in pornography is considered a crime in Iran that can carry the death sentence.
Why was a pornstar allowed to visit Iran?
As a US citizen, Wright would have had to receive permission to visit Iran. Despite this, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said he had no information on Wright, according to AP.
Iranian state media Tasnim News quoted someone apparently familiar with the incident, who said Wright "had not been invited by any organization and traveled to Tehran on her own after obtaining a visa."
"The visa issuance system was unaware of the indecent nature of her work, and she has now left Iran," the report said.
The US State Department told AP in a statement that it has warned Americans to avoid travel to Iran and “exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detention.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a primary driver of instability across the Middle East region, and it has been since 1979,” the State Department said. “If Iran actually cared about peace and stability in the Middle East region or the welfare of the people there, it would cease its support for terrorist organizations.”
The women murdered for failing to 'respect the law'
The Iranian regime has reportedly killed numerous women who did not meet the country's standards, one of whom being Mahsa Amini.
The young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody triggered worldwide protests, was a shy, reserved resident of a small town who never challenged the country's clerical rulers or its Islamic dress code, sources close to the family said.
Amini, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, died three days after she was arrested in hospital after falling into a coma. It sparked the first big show of opposition on Iran's streets since authorities crushed fuel price protests in 2019 in which 1,500 people were killed.
Authorities denied beating Amini and insisted in a statement that the cause of death was sudden heart failure, possibly from preexisting conditions. However, the family has denied the 22-year-old had any previous health issues.
In September of 2022, Amini would pay a heavy price for not paying attention to every detail of her clothing as she and her family visited her uncle in Tehran. Amini was suddenly confronted by the morality police, a force tasked with detaining people who violate Iran's conservative dress code in order to "promote virtue and prevent vice."
The situation was also commented on by Iranian actress Setareh Pesiani, who was quoted by AP as having said, “You [The Iranian regime] punish people of this country in various methods for removal of hijab, but you allow a porn actress to come here for tourism!?”