The Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi challenged the Islamic Republic by publishing on YouTube of a concert, without an audience, in a caravanserai in Iran and where it appears without veil. The gesture, which went around the internet yesterday, cost her a complaint from the authorities while the artist became a heroine.
A challenge in a moment of great tension
Ahmadi’s challenge comes at a time of great tension in the country due to the repression against women and while a new law is being approved which tightens the sanctions for those who do not respect thecompulsory veil. In the viral video titled «A hypothetical concert»Ahmadi appears without a veil and with a long black dress which leaves her shoulders uncovered, which contradicts the Islamic dress laws; she also sings alone in public, another thing not allowed to women since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
A message of freedom through music
«I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. This is a right that I can’t ignore, sing for the land I love with all my heart hear my voice in this virtual concert and imagine this beautiful country,” says Ahmadi before starting to perform accompanied by three male musicians.
The 27-minute video, shot in a caravanserai for the caravans of ancient Iran, went viral after its publication Wednesday evening on YouTube. That “right” to sing claimed by Ahmadi transformed her overnight into aheroine of freedom in the country.
Complaint and legal consequences
In less than 24 hours, the Iranian judicial authorities announced that they had filed a complaint against the singer and her companions for holding the concert “without permission” and without respect «legal and religious norms»the agency reported Mizanlinked to the judiciary.
Ahmadi already faced a complaint when he released the song «From the blood of the young people of the homeland» during the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody of the morality police for not wearing the veil correctly in 2022.
A new law against civil disobedience
The young singer’s challenge comes as the authorities are about to launch a new law which punishes the lack of wearing of the veil, inappropriate clothing or obscene acts with fines, prison, floggings and, in extreme cases, with the death penalty.
This law, which must be signed by the president to come into force Pezeshkianaims to put an end to the non-use of the headscarf, a gesture of civil disobedience that many Iranians adopted after Amini’s death, spark of months of anti-government protests.
Despite measures such as the confiscation of vehicles or the return to the streets of moral policemany Iranian women still do not wear thehijab as a gesture of disobedience and defiance Islamic Republic.