Alireza Ghorbani's Concert Canceled Due to 'Incompatibility with Public and Authentic Culture'

Alireza Ghorbani's concert with the 'Eshteghagh' orchestra, which was scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, March 6 and 7, at Azad University in Golbahar near Mashhad, was canceled by the order of the city's prosecutor. According to ILNA, Majid Eshraqi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Chenaran County in Razavi Khorasan Province, requested the cancellation of the concert in a letter to the head of the cultural department of this county. In his letter, Mr. Eshraqi cited the opposition of what he referred to as the 'Hezbollah community' and the 'concerns and objections' of the Friday prayer leader of Golbahar as reasons for the cancellation. He added that holding a music concert is incompatible with the 'public and authentic culture of this region of our Islamic homeland' and does not provide 'spiritual benefits' for this county and its affiliated cities. The prosecutor also expressed his 'strong' opposition to the 'performance of desirable music concerts and any other type of concert, whether pop or traditional.' According to ISNA, Majid Ahadzadeh, the producer of this music concert, stated on Thursday that the concert was canceled by the order of the Chenaran prosecutor, adding that 'the permit for holding this concert was obtained a month ago from the governorate, police, and the provincial culture and guidance department, and the permit was delivered to us 48 hours ago.' Mr. Ahadzadeh mentioned that 80 million tomans were spent to hold this concert, and 88 million tomans worth of tickets were sold. He added, 'People trusted us and bought tickets, so no financial damage should be inflicted on them, and damages incurred from the cancellation of the concert will be paid within the next 25 days.' The cancellation of this concert comes less than a week after Ali Jannati, Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, stated that the ministry supports licensed concerts and will not yield to what he described as 'self-appointed' groups. Prior to this, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, head of the Assembly of Experts Secretariat, criticized the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance's performance in the field of music, demanding that Ali Jannati remind the artistic deputy of the ministry that music is forbidden in Islam. The state news agency IRNA reported on January 25 that 20 concerts had been canceled in the past year. In recent weeks, the presence of women in some concerts has also caused controversies. For instance, on February 15, during Homayoun Shajarian's concert in Isfahan, some individuals protested the presence of three female musicians, causing a brief interruption in the concert. The day after, during the closing ceremony of the student production festival at the Scientific and Applied Centers of Culture and Art, the microphones of female singers in the Academy of Art orchestra were cut off during the performance. Meanwhile, several websites, including Student News Agency and Khorasan Online, reported the arrest of Ali Yousofi, the cultural deputy of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, due to holding a concert at this university. Nasim News Agency also quoted an informed source stating, 'Following the illegal holding of a music concert and norm-breaking at one of the universities in Mashhad, the deputy of this university was arrested by the order of the prosecutor. This concert had been held a few days earlier.' The Saham News website, close to Mehdi Karroubi, reported on March 7 that according to the latest information received, Mr. Yousofi has been released on bail. The website also noted that the reason for Mr. Yousofi's arrest was an interview he conducted about 'Dey 9'. This website did not provide details about this interview.