Rape allegations against soccer player turned movie star Pejman Jamshidi have provoked a major controversy in Iran. The case has led to the closure of a news outlet that interviewed the accuser and prompted Jamshidi to flee the country in the middle of legal deliberations. 

The allegations

Iranian media reported on Oct. 21 that an actor, later revealed to be Jamshidi, had been arrested on rape charges. Jamshidi was subsequently summoned to court, where he denied the accusations and was released on bail on Oct. 26. Judicial spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday that the case is still in the preliminary investigation phase, the independent news outlet Iran Front Page reported. 

The alleged victim provided an interview to journalist Elaheh Mohammadi of the Reformist news outlet Ham-Mihan earlier this week. In the interview, she and her mother alleged that Jamshidi assaulted, drugged and raped her, and then offered her roughly $460,000 for her silence. She said the complaint was made about six months ago, shortly after the alleged crime took place, according to a summary of the article by the news outlet IranWire, which reports critically on the government.