Iranwire – A single family photograph exposed the fragile boundaries of personal expression in Iran’s bureaucratic system.

Saeed Eslamzadeh’s image of his daughter without the mandatory hijab cost him his public relations position at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
His dismissal quickly implicated Nadereh Rezaei, the ministry’s first female artistic deputy who had originally hired him.
Her appointment did not sit well with hardliner media, and since assuming the position, she has been under constant scrutiny and faced a series of attacks.
Pro-Revolutionary Guard media swiftly transformed her professional selection into a potential ideological misstep.
The incident reveals a persistent mechanism of control where a casual family moment becomes a political statement, and institutional loyalty is measured by strict adherence to appearance codes.
Eslamzadeh, the head of public relations for the Art Affairs Department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, was dismissed following a series of attacks by hardliner media against Nadereh Rezaei, the division’s deputy.
Fars News Agency published a report on Eslamzadeh’s removal, which was then widely cited by other hardliner outlets.
The report also mentioned that a photo of Eslamzadeh with his daughter during a Yalda Night celebration had recently sparked significant controversy.
Fars added that Eslamzadeh’s role in hosting the opening ceremony of the Ceramic Biennial, which featured a woman without proper hijab, had caused further backlash against the Art Affairs Department.
The news agency then escalated its criticism by targeting Nadereh Rezaei directly.
Quoting a social media user, Fars wrote, “If you were in Nadereh Rezaei’s position but had a friend affiliated with monarchists, a sister without hijab, and a political prisoner sister, you would never have been employed by this administration – let alone appointed as the Deputy Minister for Art Affairs.”
The comment summarized the broader campaign against Rezaei, who has faced mounting pressure in recent months.
One of the most prominent allegations came from Abdolreza Davari, a former official in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration.
On X, Davari shared a photo claiming that Rezaei’s sister, Ameneh Rezaei, a political prisoner, had visited Narges Mohammadi alongside other activists.
While Nadereh Rezaei has neither confirmed nor denied this claim, prominent hardliner accounts widely circulated the post.
Another claim by Fars alleged that Rezaei had close ties with individuals linked to monarchists, specifically referencing her friendship with Goli Emami, a well-known translator and author.
The report said that Emami’s late husband, Karim Emami, was a member of the board of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Fars pointed to photos shared by Rezaei on her Instagram account showing Goli Emami without a headscarf in her home.
One of the most significant social media controversies involving Rezaei stemmed from Keyhan newspaper’s claim that she liked a post by Parastoo Ahmadi, a singer.
Ahmadi had performed a “symbolic concert” at a caravanserai in Iran last month and shared the video online.
Keyhan criticized Rezaei for following Ahmadi’s Instagram page and liking the post, claiming such behavior reflected her “lack of expertise” in her role.
Similarly, the Mashregh News website, another outlet close to the IRGC, accused Ahmadi’s performance of attracting attention from the Baha’i community and criticized Rezaei’s Instagram activities.
The controversy escalated to the point where the Art Affairs Department’s public relations office issued a statement denying that Rezaei had liked Ahmadi’s post.
Last month, X was flooded with posts accusing Rezaei of liking photos of street protests and women protesting mandatory hijab laws.
Rezaei, the first female Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, has also drawn attention for appearing in public without the traditional chador, a look that distinguishes her from most women in leadership roles within the Islamic Republic.
From major outlets like Keyhan to lesser-known websites, numerous reports have targeted Rezaei, accusing her of being one of the signatories of a letter addressed to former U.S. President Barack Obama.
The letter, written by hundreds of political and civil activists, supported a statement by 55 Iranian political prisoners urging the U.S. to lift sanctions on Iran.
Fars News Agency also attacked Rezaei, citing her appointment of Kambiz Norouzi, a lawyer, to the legal working group of the Art Affairs Department.
Fars criticized this move and highlighted Norouzi’s history of imprisonment following the 2009 post-election protests in Iran.
One of the latest controversies surrounding the 43-year-old deputy minister involved a photo of her alongside Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s former reformist president.