Music is ‘not compatible’ with the values of the Islamic Republic, announced Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on 2 August 2010.
While the Ayatollah acknowledged that music is ‘halal’ (lawful) he emphasized it was not in tune with the finest religious principles of the Islamic Republic, reported the British newspaper The Guardian.
As a result of the ‘incompatibility’ he furthermore discouraged the promotion and teaching of music in the country.
According to CBC News, Khamenei’s statement came as a response to a request from a 21-year-old religious follower who wanted clarification on his ability to attend music lessons.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instead urged youths to spend their time educating themselves in science or engage in recreational activities or sports.
Although Khameni rarely speaks out in public about music, he is believed to have been behind the banning of Western style music in the 1980s when he served as the country’s president, explained The Guardian.
Ayatollah Ali Khameni has been the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic since 1989.
Iranian journalist and poet Sepideh Jodeyri compares the life and music of imprisoned musician Arya Aramnejad with Chile's revolutionary singer, Victor Jara.
On 8 November 2011 singer Arya Armnejad was arrested when his home was raided by intelligent agents. Arya Armnejad was beaten and taken to the solitary confinement in the Intelligence Ministry’s detention center in Sari.
Mohammad Mirzamani, the General Director of the Music Office in the Ministry of Culture in Tehran, told that a new music censorship law is being prepared by the ministry
On the occassion of two new albums with music of Kourosh and Googoosh, Jessica Hundley wrote an article for Los Angeles Times about music in Iran before the revolution
The 70-year-old singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian’s beloved Ramadan song ‘Rabbana’ is banned by the Iranian authorities, reported BBC's Karen Zarindast from Iran
During the Persian New Year, posters advertising concerts by banned Iranian musicians can be seen all over Yerevan, capital of the ex-Soviet republic Armenia
'Degenerate music' was a term used by the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s to describe certain forms of music. The same term is increasingly adapted by Iranian authorities
On 1 October 2010, an online petition in support of Iranian singer Arya Aramnejad was started. He was imprisoned for singing his famous song ‘Ali Barkhir’ (‘O Ali raise up’)
13 October 2010
Related readingabout religious music prohibition - on freemuse.org
It will take a long time for Swat’s musical culture to recover from the Taliban’s crackdown on music, reported Shaheen Buneri from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
