Iran: Singer Arrested After Performing Virtual Concert Without Hijab

Iranian singer, Parastoo Ahmady was arrested after her virtual concert on YouTube which she performed without a hijab.

Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmady performed a virtual concert on Facebook without a hijab after which she was arrested.

Source : YouTube/ Parastoo Ahmadi

A female singer has been arrested by Iranian authorities after she performed a virtual concert on YouTube without wearing hijab, said a lawyer, reported Associated Press. 

Parastoo Ahmady, 27, was arrested on Saturday in Sari City, the capital of the northern province of Mazandaran, said the Iranian lawyer Milad Panahipour. 

On Thursday, a case was filed by the judiciary against Ahmady's concert performance which she performed wearing a long black sleeveless and collarless dress, and no hijab. Four male musicians also accompanied him during the performance. 

Ahmady posted the concert video on YouTube on Wednesday and wrote in the description: "I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. This is a right I could not ignore; singing for the land I love passionately.”

The video has since amassed 1.6 million views at the time of writing this report. 

Pahanipour told AP that the charges against Ahmady were not known nor the place of her detention. "But we will follow up on the matter through legal authorities," the lawyer said. 

Two other musicians from Ahmady's band, Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar were also arrested in Tehran on Saturday, he added. 

After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, women were first banned from singing altogether. Later they were banned from singing or dancing solo before mixed-gender audiences. Female vocalists were allowed to perform for male audiences only as a part of a chorus though they were allowed to sing in a hall for female-only audiences. 

Also, according to Iranian and Islamic law, women are not allowed to appear without a hijab in front of men who are not related. 

Iran was rocked by widespread protest in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini,22 after she was arrested by the country's morality police over allegedly not wearing the hijab.