Proposal to Amend a Resolution to Prevent Police Interference in Concerts

Iran's Minister of Culture announced a joint meeting with the Minister of Interior next week to decide on the cancellation of concerts. According to the state news agency IRNA, Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture, on Wednesday, June 17, spoke to reporters about the repeated cancellations of concerts, stating: "Some previous government resolutions allow the police to intervene in certain areas, and we are in the process of amending that resolution." The Minister did not specify which government this resolution pertains to. Jannati further stated: "We want no one to be able to prevent the holding of events that the Ministry of Culture has granted permission for, and no one should be able to cancel concerts." In recent days, several concerts in Iran, including a concert by the Masten group featuring Parvaz Homay, Vahid Taj in Rasht, and Kayhan Kalhor in Tehran, were canceled despite having permission from the Ministry of Culture. Following these cancellations, Pirouz Arjomand, head of the Music Office, and Hossein Nooshabadi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, strongly criticized the police and the places administration for interfering in the prevention of concerts. Additionally, a few days ago, Hesamoddin Ashna, cultural advisor to the Iranian President, expressed hope that the police would "understand the new situation of the country" in response to the cancellation of music concerts. He told ISNA that "the biases of some individuals" in this force "do not align with the current situation of the country and certainly more coordination will occur with the new police command." In this context, Hassan Rouhani also referred to the cancellation of concerts during his press conference with the media on Saturday, June 23. The Iranian President stated that when an authority is designated as the legal reference for granting permits, interference by others in these matters is inappropriate, saying: "Everyone must act according to the law and not seek personal interpretations." On the other hand, Hossein Ashtari, the commander of the Iranian police, stated on the same day that this law enforcement agency acted in accordance with its "inherent and religious" duty by canceling some music concerts.