Why Jill Biden Made a Special Appearance on the Grammys Stage

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First lady Jill Biden made a surprise appearance at the 65th Grammy Awards Sunday night, to publicly recognize "a song that responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact."

That song, penned by Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour, won an award in a new Grammy category: Best Song for Social Change.

Hajipour's song "Baraye" has become the unofficial protest anthem of Iran, after the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody has sparked international controversy and global calls for change.

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Mahsa Amini was arrested by Iran's morality police in September — allegedly for wearing a hijab too loosely — and later died in police custody, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield previously explained to PEOPLE.

"She was arrested and taken into police custody for what they call an 'educational and reorientation class,'" Thomas-Greenfield said. "Some hours later, she was transferred to the hospital in a coma and she died two days later."

While Amini's family was told by Iranian police that she had suffered from a heart condition, her family has disputed that assessment, saying she had no heart ailment and that bruises seen on her body indicated she had been tortured.

Iranian women and men have taken to the streets to protest Amini's death in the weeks and months since, facing violence and even death themselves as the eyes of the world have turned to the morality police, which the U.S. State Department has described as an organization that enforces "restrictions on freedom of expression."

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Songwriter Hajipour was among those arrested (he was accused of spreading anti-government propaganda), as Dr. Biden noted in her speech at the Grammys.

"Shervin was arrested but this song continues to resonate around the world with its powerful theme—women, life, freedom," she said.

Dr. Biden, who also presented the award for Song of the Year, called Hajipour's song a "powerful and poetic call for freedom and women's rights."

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Dr. Biden's press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia, said in a statement: "The First Lady was honored to be asked by the Recording Academy to announce the Grammys' first Social Change award to Shervin Hajipour for his song 'Baraye.' As a steadfast champion for women and girls around the world, the First Lady was inspired by his song that served as an anthem for freedom and women's rights."

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in October that the U.S. had imposed sanctions both on Iran's morality police and on "senior security officials who have engaged in serious human rights abuses."

"These officials oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women's rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha'i community," the Treasury Department said in a statement at the time.

Meanwhile, Tehran-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) estimates that at least 527 protestors have died in Iran since the protests began.