Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance: We Will Not Surrender to Self-Declared Groups

On Friday evening, March 1, the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ali Jannati, stated that his ministry supports licensed concerts and will not yield to what he referred to as 'self-declared' groups. According to the state news agency IRNA, Jannati emphasized, 'Some political groups are trying to undermine the value of music by exploiting the religious sentiments of the people, and in this regard, we must firmly declare that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance knows the law, Sharia, religion, and government principles better than they do.' He added, 'Therefore, all licensed concerts have adhered to all regulations, and we support their performance and will not surrender to self-declared groups because most of these individuals are newcomers whose knowledge in many areas, including religion, art, and music, is less than ours.' Jannati made these remarks at the closing ceremony of the 30th Fajr International Music Festival. Hours before his comments, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, called for 'the officials' attention' to music concerts, adding, 'They should be careful whether this concert leads to moral corruption or not.' Previously, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the head of the Assembly of Experts, criticized the performance of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in the music sector, demanding that Jannati warn the art deputy of his ministry that music is forbidden in Islam. Meanwhile, 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 caused controversies. For instance, on Sunday, February 15, during a concert by Homayoun Shajarian in Isfahan, a group entered the concert hall in protest against the presence of three female musicians, causing a brief interruption in the concert. The day after, during the closing ceremony of the student productions festival at the Academy of Arts affiliated with the University of Applied Science and Technology, the microphones of the female singers in the orchestra were cut off during the performance. The Minister of Culture continued his remarks, stating that some are trying to create tension in the music scene by spreading rumors that a permit for a female solo album was issued by the ministry. Jannati added, 'If a permit for a solo performance had been issued by the Ministry of Culture, we would have stood by it, but this was not the case, and it was merely self-declared groups spreading this news with incorrect information.' He addressed the religious authorities, stating that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has adhered to all religious standards in issuing permits for albums and live performances and will continue to do so. Jannati's remarks came after two religious authorities in Qom, Ayatollah Nouri Hamadani and Nasser Makarem Shirazi, protested on February 4 against the issuance of a permit by the Ministry for an album that, according to them, featured a woman singing. Their criticism was directed at the album 'To Ra Ey Kohan Boom O Bar Doost Daram' released by Cheshmeh Publishing, which featured the simultaneous singing of Mohsen Karamati and Noushin Tafi. Following the controversies surrounding this album, the famous musician Pari Maleki refused to participate in a concert on February 13 with the group 'Khaneya' at Ivan Shams. According to Mansour Maleki, Pari Maleki's husband, festival officials had been 'threatened' that a female singer should not be present at the festival. The criticism from these religious authorities came at a time when some critics of Hassan Rouhani's government, including Hossein Safar Harandi, a former Minister of Culture under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Morteza Aqa Tehrani, a representative in parliament, confirmed that no female solo singing was performed in this album.