LOS ANGELES — Critically acclaimed adult actress Alexis Texas is reportedly at the middle of an ongoing investigation into criminal violations of child protection laws in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yeah, that Iran. 

The starlet appears fully clothed after making a cameo in a music video preview for a song called “Tehran Tokyo” — a hit dance single by Iranian ex-pat Sasy. Well, ‘Sasy’ is the stage name for 32-year-old pop singer Sasan Yafteh. Yafteh, according to the Associated Press (AP), is popular among teenagers and young adults in Iran.

The ISNA News Agency released a statement from the Iranian government through its Persian language news service. Per ISNA, religious and civil authorities in Tehran are currently probing the circulation of the video with Sasy and Alexis Texas on the Iranian social media mobile phone application Rubika.

AP adds that authorities have been investigating Rubika for violations of Iran’s stringent, religious-based public decency and child protection laws. If violations are found, the punishments will be swift and possibly deadly. Iran is nominally led by President Hassan Rouhani, who only serves as a figure-head because the country is truly led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. 

Fundamentalist Islamic law in countries like Iran prohibits several depictions of what their society views as ‘lewd content.’ Even with porn at the center of the debate, the Iranian government and its religious institutions view many forms of content to be obscene to some degree or another. In addition, the so-called legal probe Iranian authorities are conducting serves as a textbook case of fighting a soft power war of propaganda.

Because of Iran’s long-standing ‘Westernophobia” and anti-imperialist sentiments, there is a pathological need between the two battling societies to espouse their views of what serves as an ideal society in both culture, politics, and spirituality.

Fun fact: soft power is often defined as the ability to attract and co-opt, instead of coercing and threaten as would be the case for “hard power” scenarios. This is often viewed through the shaping of preferences and others through an attempt to change appeal. As is the case with this scenario featuring Alexis Texas, Iranian hard-liners in the government have long held the view that social media services and the sort of content that comes along with it are a part of an ongoing “soft war” perpetrated by the Western powers against the Islamic Republic.

Image of Larry Flynt and Alexis Texas via YNOTShootMe.com