Six people who were arrested in Iran for dancing in a YouTube video to Pharrell Williams ' song `` Happy '' have been freed , the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said Wednesday , citing a source close to the families . The director of the video was not released , the group said . One of the six announced that she was freed . `` Hi I 'm back , '' Reihane Taravati wrote on her Instagram account , thanking Williams and `` everyone who cared about us . '' The fan video is one of many to the hit song that has sold millions of downloads worldwide . Tehran Police Chief Hossein Sajedinia ordered the arrests of the three men and three women for helping make an `` obscene video clip that offended the public morals and was released in cyberspace , '' the Iranian Students ' News Agency reported Wednesday . Authorities forced the young people to repent on state TV . Iranian President Hassan Rouhani seemed to think differently . `` # Happiness is our people 's right . We should n't be too hard on behaviors caused by joy , '' a tweet on his account said . It seemed to be quoting one of his comments from June 2013 . Pharrell Williams denounced the arrests . `` It is beyond sad that these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness , '' the Grammy Award winner said on his Facebook page . Just like in the singer 's original video , the Iranian fan version features a montage of men and women dancing to the song in a variety of settings . Taravati gushed over the reaction to the video in the days before the Tuesday arrests . `` 178K VIEWS thank you , '' she wrote on her Facebook page last week . She also posted a picture of people featured in the video on Instagram . `` People of Tehran are happy ! Watch and Share Our Happiness ! , '' Taravati wrote . `` Let the world hear us ! we are happy and we deserve to be ! '' Arrests come amid support for photo project . The arrests come amid growing support on Facebook for an unrelated project featuring photographs submitted by women who appear without Iran 's legally required head scarves . The page , created May 3 , has more than 300,000 likes . `` This is the voice of Iranian women who have been censored all their lives in Iran , '' London-based journalist Masih Alinejad , who created the page , told HLN , CNN 's sister network . `` And now social media is giving them the opportunity to speak out , to be themselves . '' Conversely , Iranian officials and some journalists denounced an Iranian actress who extended her hand in greeting to a film festival executive and received a kiss on the cheek from him , according to media reports . The BBC reported that a conservative journalism organization run by Iran 's state broadcaster said actress Leila Hatami engaged in `` unconventional and improper '' behavior by extending her hand to Cannes Film Festival president Gilles Jacob . For his part , Jacob dismissed the controversy over kissing Hatami on the cheek . He said on Twitter that she represented `` all Iranian cinema '' and called the uproar over the kiss needless controversy `` over a usual custom in the West . '' 'Happy ' makes Pharrell cry . International backlash . Pharrell 's not the only one unhappy about the arrests . The Twitter hashtag # FreeHappyIranians went viral . `` Is happiness a crime ? @ Pharrell # freehappyiranians , '' @ MaedehHP tweeted . Others poked fun at the fan video 's message . `` They deserve it for lying : ) How can any body be # happy in # Tehran or # Iran for that matter , '' @ Alothman123 wrote . The National Iranian American Council condemned Iranian authorities . `` There are forces within Iran 's government who want to keep the Iranian people isolated from the world , '' the council said in a statement . `` The irony that the Iranian youth were arrested for dancing to a song called 'Happy ' seems to be lost on the Iranian authorities . '' Incidentally , the arrests came just days after Rouhani said citizens should take advantage of the Internet to communicate . `` # Cyberspace should be seen as opportunity : facilitating two-way communication , increasing efficiency & creating jobs , '' the President tweeted Saturday . `` Govt unhappy w/ current situation ; working to increase internet speed for users at home , in offices & on mobiles . '' Rouhani said every Iranian citizen has a right to connect to the Internet , according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency . Some on social media made a point to separate the Iranian government from everyday Iranians . `` In a country which Religion and politics are not separated anything could become a crime even happiness , '' Hamoun Dowlatshah posted on Pharrell 's Facebook page . `` I love you Iran but i hate your government more than anything else . ''
All the actors were freed ; the director was not , a human rights lawyer says . They are accused of making an ` ` obscene '' video that ` ` offended the public morals '' Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said : ` ` # Happiness is our people 's right '' The hashtag # Happiness has gone viral on Twitter .