YouTube singer Parastoo Ahmadi performs without hijab in Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates –

Iranian authorities have arrested a female singer who performed a virtual concert on YouTube, a lawyer said.

Milad Panahipour, an Iranian lawyer, said Parastoo Ahmadi, 27, was arrested in Sari City, capital of the northern province of Mazandaran, on Saturday.

On Thursday, the judiciary had filed a case regarding Ahmady’s concert performance, in which she performed wearing a long black sleeveless and collarless dress, but no hijab. She was accompanied by four male musicians.

Ahmadi had posted her concert on YouTube the day before, saying: “I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people I love. This is a right I could not ignore; singing for the land I love passionately.”

The online concert has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

Panahipour told The Associated Press: “Unfortunately, we do not know the charges against Ms. Ahmadi, who arrested her, or her place of detention, but we will follow up on the matter through legal authorities.”

He also said two musicians in Ahmadi’s band — Soheil Faghih Nasiri and Ehsan Beiraghdar — were arrested in Tehran on Saturday.

Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, women were banned at first from singing altogether, then from singing or dancing solo before mixed-gender audiences. Female vocalists could perform for male audiences only as a part of a chorus. But they are allowed to sing in a hall for female-only audiences.

Also based on Iranian and Islamic law, women are not allowed to appear without a hijab in front of men who are not related.

In Iran, the hijab — and the all-encompassing black chador worn by some — has long been a political symbol as well, particularly after becoming mandatory in the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. For observant Muslim women, the head covering is a sign of piety before God and modesty in front of men outside their families.

There were protests across Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest by the country’s morality police over allegedly not wearing her hijab. While police became hesitant to strictly enforce the Islamic dress code — possibly to avoid even wider demonstrations and displays of defiance — in recent weeks the authorities’ tone has changed.