Instagram star who had plastic surgery to make her look like Angelina Jolie arrested for blasphemy in Iran

An Instagram star who had radical plastic surgery to look like Angelina Jolie has been arrested in Iran on blasphemy charges.

Sahar Tabar was detained on the orders of Tehran’s guidance court, which deals with “cultural crimes and social and moral corruption”, the country’s state news agency said on Saturday.

She now faces charges including blasphemy, inciting violence, gaining income through inappropriate means and encouraging youth to corruption, the news agency added.

Tabar rose to prominence on Instagram last year after posting a series of images of her face altered through plastic surgery.

Most of the photos and videos shared with her 26,800 followers have also been heavily edited so that she is meant to resemble Hollywood star Angelina Jolie.

The account features images of her with a gaunt face, pouting lips and sharply turned-up nose.

In some, she can be seen wearing a loosely fitting hijab over her hair and a white bandage on her nose.

Such bandages, required after nose operations, are commonly seen on Tehran’s streets. Cosmetic surgery is hugely popular in the Islamic republic, with tens of thousands of operations taking place each year.

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Instagram is the only major social media service accessible in Iran. Facebook, Twitter and the Telegram messenger service are officially banned.

Revealing the secret to her look last year, Tabar said most of it was down to make-up and Photoshop.

She said: “Every time I publish a photo, I paint my face in an increasingly funny way. It is a way of expressing yourself, a kind of art. My fans know that this is not my real face.”

She added: “I did not even think about being like Jolie. Also, I did not want to resemble the cartoon character the Corpse Bride.

“Now I understand that I have something to do with them, but I am a muse myself and remembering someone is not an end in itself.”