Internet activist Hossein Ronaghi says this arrest is ridiculous.
One user also compared the arrest of this young girl to the government turning a blind eye to the corruption and prostitution of figures close to it.
Another person posted the video and wrote: "A Palestinian Arab Muslim father encourages his daughter not to be ashamed, to use her art, to be free, to let go."
Another person wrote on Twitter: "If my son asks me in 20 years, "Why did you make the revolution?", I will tell him, "Son, at that time, dancing was forbidden, they would take a 17-year-old girl on TV and get her to confess with tearful eyes."
Conservatives and Reformists' Reaction
Some Iranian religious clerics have even complained about this arrest. Among them is Peyman Heydari Khansari, who is considered a cleric and a member of the Qom Seminary, who wrote that a warning was enough for him.
Or Mohammad Reza Zaeri, a cleric who has been critical of the government's mandatory hijab policies for some time. Citing his old tweet, he wrote: "This tweet was from a long time ago. Now I'll add that unfortunately we have nothing to do with theft and looting the treasury, but we do have to do with dancing and not wearing a hijab! That's how far we are from the Islam of the Prophet and the Commander of the Faithful!"
Mohammad Reza Bagheri, a conservative figure, also wrote on Twitter: "The judiciary probably dealt with #Maedeh_Hejbari to prevent the deviation of the youth and the disintegration of the family foundation. I wish they knew that the deviation of the youth, their atheism, and their aversion to religion are the result of not dealing with political and economic corruptors, of tolerating bigots, and seeing the oppression of some in the guise of religion."
But Mustafa Tajzadeh, a reformist figure, also reacted to this confession. He wrote: Yesterday's televised confessions of several teenage girls were met with the firm condemnation of public opinion, as expected. If the IRIB were answerable to anyone other than the #leader, it would never have been able to continue this illegal and inhumane method that is disgusting, hurts all Iranians, and brings shame to the system.
However, Washington-based journalist Nyusha Saremi criticizes the conservatives and reformists' criticism of this arrest as follows: All the objections of some to the #Maedeh_Hejbari incident are that the regime was reckless and incurred a huge cost for itself, now there was no need for a televised confession, and in the end, the blame lies with the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation. In other words, the criticism is again from this angle: why are you causing an attack on you, dear Islamic Republic? Slow down a little, beautiful.
Meanwhile, some users have reacted in this way. Journalist Solmaz Ikder posted a video of her mother dancing and wrote, "My mother said, 'I dance for your stolen adolescence and youth, for the freedom and happiness you deserve.'"
