Minister of Culture's Reaction to Continued Illegal Concert Cancellations: We Have Instructed to Follow Up

The Minister of Culture of Masoud Pezeshkian's government, Abbas Salehi, stated that after the issuance of permits for artistic programs by this institution, no other organization has the right to revoke these permits. In an interview with ILNA on December 3, he referred to the emphasis of the national music document and said that the only authority to issue concert permits is the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and once this institution agrees to hold a concert, no other organization can revoke this permit. The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran also emphasized that this issue is uniform across the country and no province or city is exempt from it. Salehi did not provide an explanation on how to compel the unauthorized concert cancelers to comply with government directives and ensure the enforcement of his statements. He merely stated, 'This news (about concert cancellations) has reached me as well, and we have told our friends to seriously follow up. They should address this issue and also ensure that conditions do not arise for this to happen again.' Last week, Mohsen Sharifian, a researcher of regional music and a musician from the Lian music group, reported the cancellation of this group's concert programs in East Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Fars, and Khuzestan provinces, despite receiving permits from the Ministry of Culture. Sharifian also confirmed that he had been summoned to court following the dancing of several attendees at the group's previous concert in Tehran's Vahdat Hall about a year and a half ago and has been 'released on bail' since then. Abbas Salehi emphasized that he has issued instructions to follow up and deal with the factors behind the cancellation of the Lian group's concert and called for officials to be serious in preventing such occurrences from happening again. This is while the interference of organizations such as the representative of the Supreme Leader, the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice headquarters, the governorate, law enforcement, and Basij has repeatedly led to the cancellation of artistic programs, especially music concerts and performances. Previously, some state and religious officials in provinces such as Khorasan, Qom, and Yazd opposed holding concerts in these provinces due to 'the religious characteristics of these areas' and prevented concerts that had permits from the Ministry of Culture. Ahmad Alamolhoda, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Razavi Khorasan province and the Imam of Friday prayers in Mashhad, is among the serious opponents of holding artistic programs in this province. Last September, Mahmoud Salari, the then Deputy Minister of Culture, while siding with the opponents of holding music concerts in Mashhad, claimed, 'Has anyone ever held a concert in the Vatican?' Alireza Ghorbani, Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh, and Sirvan Khosravi are other singers and artists who, despite having permits from the Ministry of Culture in recent months, have not been able to hold their programs. Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh reported in November that his concerts in Yasuj and Gachsaran were canceled due to 'lack of gender segregation' and 'the lights being off in the hall.' In one of the most controversial cases, a traditional music concert by Alireza Ghorbani in Isfahan was canceled just hours before the scheduled time by the order of the Promotion of Virtue headquarters in Isfahan province. The Promotion of Virtue headquarters in Isfahan demanded the removal of a 'female musician' from Alireza Ghorbani's music group.