Sex tapes and revealing photographs are usually associated with the likes of Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton. Yet the latest public figure to be involved in such a scandal turns out to be Iranian hardline cleric, Sheikh Jafar Shojooni.
Raunchy images of the ultra-conservative former member of Iranian Parliament reemerged in Iranian media outlets following his death last week. Dated from the 1970s, the photographs show the Sheikh in a number of uncompromising positions with various unnamed prostitutes.
Sheikh Shojooni apparently wasn’t alone in the scandal. Photos also revealed another conservative cleric, Mohammed Taghi Falsafi, in similar images with another prostitute.
Shojooni denied the authenticity of the photographs, claiming the photos were allegedly taken by intelligence staff working under the Shah before the 1979 revolution. However, he did throw his fellow Sheik Falsadi under the bus, by insisting that the photos of Falsadi were in fact real.
This isn’t Iran’s first sex scandal. In 2006, there was public outcry after actress Zahara Amir Ebrahimi, and an associate producer, allegedly appeared together in an explicit sex tape. A serious crime under Iranian law, the case prompted the lower house of the Parliament of Iran to pass a bill making the production of a sex tape an offense punishable by death.
Seems like Iran’s cleric’s need to approach their sexual exploits with less candor from now on.
AM
