Demonstrations in support of the anti-government protestors in Iran have taken place globally, including in Brussels, prompting Brussels Mayor Philippe Close (PS) to show support for Iranian women on 150 billboards.
"For several weeks, women have been testifying about their anger and incomprehension about what happened," Close tweeted. "We've decided to get their message across to the 150 billboards in public spaces."
Protests have sprouted across Europe. In Brussels, the Regional Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Green) and state secretaries Nawal Ben Hamou (PS) and Barbara Trachte (Ecolo) cut off their hair in a show of solidarity with Iranian women.
In the European Parliament, it was the Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew) who carried out the political stunt, which also has entered the showbiz world with leading French actors Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche cutting their locks.
Political commentators do not believe the protests will topple the regime, but it is one of the strongest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its founding after the 1979 revolution.
Protests in Iran erupted after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman in the hands of the country's morality police. Iranian authorities have brutally cracked down on the peaceful protests, but protests have now continued for weeks.
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Iranian authorities say they will investigate the deaths of civilians. They have blamed the protests on a range of enemies, including the Iranian Kurds, and have accused Israel, and the US of igniting the protests.
Some Western countries have increased sanctions on Iran after the authorities' clampdown on the protestors. Yet the move is adding to diplomatic tensions when discussions to bring back the 2015 nuclear agreement are at a halt.
