Minister of Culture: Prosecutors' Interference is the Main Obstacle to Concerts

Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran, has referred to the interference of prosecutors and the judiciary as the "main obstacle" to holding certain concerts and has reported on correspondence with judicial officials to allow licensed concerts to proceed. On Sunday, June 6, in an interview with the Jamaran website, he stated that "a significant part of the problem with concerts relates to the judiciary, as sometimes prosecutors intervene and prevent concerts from taking place." He added, "We have corresponded with the head and managers of the judiciary to allow the permits that are issued to be executed." Jannati also mentioned that the Ministry of Culture is "sufficiently careful and diligent" regarding concert organization, for example, not issuing permits for pop concerts in religious cities and only granting permits for traditional concerts. On May 13, he had also implicitly expressed his inability to prevent concert cancellations, stating that the judiciary considers such actions to be part of its rights. The Minister's statements came on a day when Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, criticized what he called the "laxity of cultural institutions" during a meeting with representatives of the tenth parliament. He stated that "there is a kind of laxity and indifference in cultural institutions, as there are shortcomings in producing beneficial cultural goods and preventing the production of harmful cultural goods." In recent weeks, the prosecutor's office in Nishapur has canceled the concerts of Shahram Nazeri twice and Kayhan Kalhor once. In April, the traditional music concert of Ali Zand Vakili in Shandiz, Mashhad, was also canceled. The cancellation of these concerts led to protests from the government spokesperson and the House of Music of Iran. Previously, Hossein Nooshabadi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, had warned that a "coordinated movement" is attempting to shut down all music concerts in the country. The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance also denied some statements regarding reforms in the film "The Salesman" for its screening in Iran. Meanwhile, Hossein Nooshabadi, the spokesperson for this ministry, stated on Tuesday, May 24, that the film "The Salesman" will be screened in Iran with "internal considerations." The film won two awards at this year's Cannes Festival in an unprecedented event, with Asghar Farhadi receiving the Best Screenplay award for "The Salesman" and Shahab Hosseini winning the Best Actor award for the same film.