war photographs, natural disasters photographs, protest photographs, conflict photographs
Yalda Moaiery (
Persian: یلدا معیری) is an Iranian
photojournalist, she is known for war, protest, natural disaster, and conflict photographs.[1][2][3] In 2019, she gained international notoriety after
Donald Trump had used one of her photos on social media to support an attack on Iran, which she publicly spoke out on.[4] During the
Mahsa Amini protests in 2022, she was one of around twenty journalists arrested in Iran.[5][6][7] She is a member of the
Iranian Photojournalists Association (IPJA).[8]
Background
Throughout her career, Moaiery has documented wars, conflicts and natural disasters in parts of the world including Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. Her photographs have been featured in international magazines and newspapers, such as
Time,
Newsweek,
San Francisco Chronicle,
Le Monde and
El Pais.[9]
Moaiery’s 20-year career has taken her around the world but her work also focuses on life in Iran, including
mass protests in 2019 over rising fuel prices. Her portfolio includes photo essays on women serving in the Iranian military and the legacy of Iran’s Supreme Leader
Khomeini.[10]
In 2019, she gained notoriety when she spoke out against President
Donald Trump after he used one of her photos on instagram to attack the Iranian government.[11][12][4]
Arrest
Moaiery was arrested on September 19, 2022[13] by security agents in downtown
Tehran while covering the
protests that erupted after the
death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the
morality police in Tehran.[12][14][15] Moaiery was reportedly hit during her arrest and forced into a van with tens of other female protesters before being taken to
Qarchak prison, a female-only detention facility in the city of
Varamin, southeast of Tehran.[9]
After the news of Moaiery’s arrest surfaced, the Tehran Province Journalists' Association issued a statement demanding her immediate release, saying that she had been detained “while staunchly defending colleagues’ freedom of movement in covering events”.[16] She was released on bail on December 20, 2022.[6][17]