Crackdown on Female Singers in Iran; Instagram Accounts of Reyhano and Parisa Bagheri Blocked

Reports from Iran indicate that the Islamic Republic's crackdown on female singers has intensified, with several female singers' Instagram accounts being blocked by a ruling from the judiciary in recent days. In the latest case, the accounts of two singers named Reyhano and Parisa Bagheri, who performs under the stage name 'Baby Dragon', have been blocked and all their content deleted. This new wave of preventing female singers from performing in Iran began with the arrest of Hiwa Seyfizadeh, a singer and musician, on March 9. According to reports circulating on social media, Ms. Seyfizadeh was in the middle of a concert at the 'Omrat Robro' cultural complex in central Tehran when the program was interrupted by forces known as 'plainclothes agents', leading to her arrest. Two days later, ISNA reported that Hiwa Seyfizadeh had been released on bail. However, it remains unclear which agency was responsible for her arrest and that of her group. On Saturday, March 11, coinciding with the announcement of Hiwa Seyfizadeh's release on bail, her Instagram page was blocked with a note stating that this action was taken 'by the Public Security Police of Faraja'. Singing by women has been banned in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and many female singers have been forced to leave the country; however, some who remained either sang at private gatherings or occasionally performed on the streets for passersby. Among these artists is Zara Esmaeili, whose video performing the famous song 'Back to Black' by the late British singer Amy Winehouse went viral on social media in July of this year and was well received. Shortly after this video gained traction on social media, Zara Esmaeili was arrested on August 2 and it was announced that she had been transferred to Fashafouyeh prison. Since then, no further news has emerged regarding Zara Esmaeili's fate, raising concerns among women's rights activists and social media users. The Instagram account of this 29-year-old artist was also blocked at the same time as her arrest, and all her works were removed from the page. In December, Parastoo Ahmadi and her group were also arrested for holding an 'unauthorized concert' in a caravanserai without government permission and without adhering to mandatory hijab regulations. Following the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests that began after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police, many female artists in Iran joined these protests, with many of them being arrested or banned from working by the government.