Iranian authorities have arrested a female singer who performed a virtual concert on YouTube, a lawyer said.
Milad Panahipour, an Iranian lawyer, said Parastu Ahmadi, 27, was arrested on Saturday in the city of Sari, the capital of the northern province of Mazandaran.
On Thursday, the judiciary had registered a case in connection with Ahmadi’s concert, in which she performed wearing a long black sleeveless and collared dress, but no hijab. He was accompanied by four male musicians.
Ahmadi posted her concert on YouTube a day earlier, saying: “I am Parastu, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. This is a right I cannot ignore; Singing for the land I love so passionately.”
The online concert has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Panahipour told The Associated Press: “Unfortunately, we do not know the charges against Ms. Ahmadi, who arrested her, or the place of her detention, but we are investigating the case through legal authorities. But will take action.”
He also said that two musicians from Ahmadi’s band – Sohail Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beraghdar – were arrested in Tehran on Saturday.
After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, women were first banned from singing altogether, then banned from singing or dancing solo in front of mixed-gender audiences. Female singers could perform for male audiences only as a part of the chorus. But he is allowed to sing in the hall only for the female audience.
Also based on Iranian and Islamic law, women are not allowed to appear without hijab in front of men who are not related.
In Iran, the hijab – and the ubiquitous black chador worn by some – has also long been a political symbolEspecially after it became mandatory in the years following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. For observant Muslim women, covering the head symbolizes piety before God and humility before men outside their family.
Protests broke out across Iran in 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the country’s morality police for allegedly not wearing a hijab. While police had been hesitant to strictly enforce the Islamic dress code – presumably to avoid widespread demonstrations and displays of defiance – the tone of authorities has changed in recent weeks.
