December 29, 2017
Minister of Culture Abbas Salehi says he is trying hard to convince clerics that music is not an evil thing and thus to stop them from banning concerts in their cities.
In an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), Salehi said, “We are trying to transform their views toward those who are active in the field of the arts. We will continue our mutual deliberations, God willing.”
The vast majority of canceled concerts had received licenses from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, but ran afoul of clerics in the cities where they were to be held.
Religious conservatives have justified their attacks on musicians by quoting vague statements and decrees by senior religious leaders. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi has often warned about the alleged dangers of music, saying it will “lead people away from the path of God.”
Cancelations of concerts featuring female vocalists and musicians have also been particularly frequent since 2013, the year Hassan Rohani was elected president.
In October 2015, Iranian newspapers revealed the names of 24 Iranian musicians who had been banned from engaging in their profession for allegedly collaborating with music distributors based abroad. That same month, then-Culture Minister Ali Jannati denied that artists in Iran had been banned from producing and performing their music for political reasons.
However, two years later, Jannati’s successor, Salehi, has admitted that many musicians cannot pursue their profession because of religious and political roadblocks.
Many Friday prayer leaders, who are all appointed by Khamenehi, have objected to music being played on Iran’s state-funded radio and television stations. They have also criticized the Ministry of Culture, which operates under President Rohani, for issuing permits that allow musicians and singers to perform in Iran.