September 23, 2022
Tens of thousands of soccer fans at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium booed loudly when a band of youths took the field to sing “Hello Commander,” a pop tune the regime has been promoting as a religious and patriotic song.
The song, “Salaam Farmandeh,” was unveiled at Now Ruz and has been heavily promoted by all the regime’s propaganda arms ever since. It has surprised some because the regime normally frowns on pop music.
Videos circulating on social media showed fans booing a performance of the song at the stadium before a match August 26.
The fans also chanted the name of Voria Ghafouri, a popular former captain of the Esteghlal soccer club who was fired from his team for criticizing the government. Ghafouri’s criticism of the government’s regional policies and downplaying of the impact of US sanctions on ordinary Iranians had met with an angry response from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi.
“Hello Commander” is dedicated to the Mahdi, the 12th Imam, whom Shiism says has been in occultation since the 9th Century. It also contains references to the Supreme Leader and to the late Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleymani.
Many social media users have seen the song as propaganda for Khamenehi as the “hidden Imam’s representative on earth” and commander-in-chief of Iran’s Armed Forces. Some have drawn a parallel between him and Adolf Hitler by sharing a video of Nazi Youth gatherings with the original Nazi audio replaced with “Hello Commander.”
