A 27-year-old Iranian singer, Parastoo Ahmady, was arrested on Saturday for playing in an online concert on YouTube without donning a headscarf. According to her attorney, Milad Panahipour, Ms. Ahmady was detained in the northeastern city of Sari within Mazandaran province at a distance of about 280 kilometres from Tehran on Saturday after a case has been lodged against her Thursday for broadcasting the concert over the web.
In the video that racked up more than 1.5 million views, Ms. Ahmady was performing in a sleeveless black dress and uncovered hair, accompanied by four male musicians.
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Describing her video, Ms. Ahmady has talked about her love of singing and love for Iran:“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. Here, in this part of our beloved Iran, where history and our myths intertwine, hear my voice in this imaginary concert and imagine this beautiful homeland,” she wrote.
However, two male performers of the concert, who appeared during the performance – Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar – have been detained in Tehran since the same day.
The hijab has become compulsory in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, while becoming a symbol of religious faith to many, but an indication of restriction of personal freedom among others. The arrest also speaks to the tensions simmering over Iran’s mandated dress codes, which began making headlines worldwide in 2022 after protests ignited over the death of Mahsa Amini, when the 22-year-old woman died in police custody for allegedly not following strictly the country’s strict law on hijab.