{"id":253259,"date":"2025-03-06T17:19:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/he-sang-in-praise-of-women-exposing-their-hair-iran-flogged-him\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T17:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:19:04","slug":"he-sang-in-praise-of-women-exposing-their-hair-iran-flogged-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/06\/he-sang-in-praise-of-women-exposing-their-hair-iran-flogged-him\/","title":{"rendered":"He Sang in Praise of Women Exposing Their Hair. Iran Flogged Him."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/06\/multimedia\/06iran-lashing-vjcz\/06iran-lashing-vjcz-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"He Sang in Praise of Women Exposing Their Hair. Iran Flogged Him.\" title=\"He Sang in Praise of Women Exposing Their Hair. Iran Flogged Him.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A popular Iranian musician who was arrested two years ago during a crackdown on artists and academics has been punished with 74 lashes in what activists said on Thursday was a bid to humiliate him for supporting a nationwide uprising.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The musician, Mehdi Yarrahi, 43, was subjected to the flogging by officers of the Morality Security Prosecutor\u2019s Office in Tehran on Wednesday, his lawyer Zahra Minuei <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZMinuei\/status\/1897263350398247133\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said on social media<\/a>. The punishment, which Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Court had sentenced him to, brought an end to a yearslong criminal case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe who is not willing to pay the price for freedom does not deserve freedom,\u201d Mr. Yarrahi said in a post <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/yarrahimehdi\/status\/1897329318419947820\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">on his official X account<\/a> on Wednesday. He thanked his legal team and said, \u201cWishing for liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mostafa Nili, another lawyer representing Mr. Yarrahi, said on Thursday that his client was unable to sit or lean on his back because of the punishment. The United Nations\u2019 International Bill of Human Rights strictly prohibits flogging, calling it inhumane and degrading.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The extreme punishment comes as Iran\u2019s artist community celebrates two Iranian directors who on Sunday <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/03\/movies\/oscars-moments-best-worst.html\" title=\"\">won an Oscar for an animated short<\/a> that had been nominated by Iran. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/homayounkheyri\/status\/1897412150853034442\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">On social media, some Iranians pointed out in outrage<\/a> that while outside the country Iranian artists were being honored with accolades, inside they faced abusive treatment by the government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yarrahi was arrested in a wave of detentions that aimed to quell any protests marking the anniversary of a 2022 uprising in which protests led by young people, particularly women, rocked Iran\u2019s religiously conservative establishment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those protests erupted after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/20\/world\/middleeast\/iran-protests-mahsa-amini.html\" title=\"\">died in police custody<\/a> after being arrested on accusations of violating Iran\u2019s mandatory hijab rule. The 2022 demonstrations swelled to nearly six months of nationwide uprising, with protesters demanding the end of the Islamic cleric\u2019s rule. They ended with <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/14\/world\/middleeast\/iran-protests-children.html\" title=\"\">brutal crackdowns<\/a> that resulted in the killing of more than 500 people, the arrest of tens of thousands more and the executions of several protesters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yarrahi was one of many artists who added their voices to the women-led uprising. In the months before the first anniversary of the protests, he released \u201cRoosarito,\u201d a song praising Iranian women who rejected the hijab rule and exposed their hair as an act of civil disobedience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTake off your scarf, let your hair flow,\u201d he sang <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7ChZablq2OY\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in a video<\/a> that featured a woman dancing, her uncovered hair swaying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yarrahi, who made his music in secret and released it only online to avoid censorship, faced instant punishment. The police rounded him up along with dozens of students, academics, journalists and artists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the time, the judiciary said Mr. Yarrahi had released an \u201cillegal song\u201d that defied the \u201cmorals and norms of an Islamic society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasnimnews.com\/fa\/news\/1403\/12\/16\/3270394\/%D9%85%D9%87%D8%AF%DB%8C-%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AD%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%DA%86%D9%87-%D8%AF%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Iran\u2019s state news media reported<\/a> that during the raid on Mr. Yarrahi\u2019s home, the security forces had found alcohol, violating a law that bans the consumption and possession of alcohol.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was initially sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, the singer said in a video <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/yarrahimehdi\/status\/1895390989541584941\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">published on social media last week<\/a>. But his sentence was commuted to one year as he experienced \u201cpoor physical health,\u201d he said, and was then later commuted to house arrest with 74 lashes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For that year, Mr. Yarrahi was confined to his home and wore an electronic ankle cuff, he said. \u201cI have spent that one year, and it is finished now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now free, Mr. Yarrahi has vowed not to return to the stage, as an act of solidarity with Iranian women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAfter all these years of being banned from work, I understand better the suffering of the Iranian women,\u201d he said in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Nili <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mostafanili58\/status\/1897563554418495987?s=48&amp;t=dDAMm78LL7VOnHD49Q8PuA\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said on social media<\/a> on Thursday that he \u201cwas behind the door and could hear the sound of the lashes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI could hear him shouting, \u2018Thank you, God!\u2019 after each lash,\u201d Mr. Nili said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Iran\u2019s artist community and some famous musicians, inside and outside the country, have rallied behind Mr. Yarrahi, sharing his picture on social media and praising him as a hero of the people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the wake of the unrest, many Iranian musicians and artists endured persistent harassment from the security police or were barred from performing, said Mehdi Kouhian, a lawyer who is a member of the Committee for Advocacy for Prosecuted Artists, which was formed during the antigovernment demonstrations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Others fled the country, the targets of government forces and hard-line groups, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The lashes given to Mr. Yarrahi were an effort to humiliate the musician \u201camong his fans or religious strata of Iranian society,\u201d Mr. Kouhian said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At least 12 of the protesters who were arrested during the crackdown have been sentenced to death or to lengthy prison terms, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2024\/09\/iran-two-years-after-woman-life-freedom-uprising-impunity-for-crimes-reigns-supreme\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according to Amnesty International<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/06\/world\/middleeast\/iran-mehdi-yarrahi-flogging.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A popular Iranian musician who was arrested two years ago during a crackdown on artists and academics has been punished with 74 lashes in what activists said on Thursday was a bid to humiliate him for supporting a nationwide uprising. The musician, Mehdi Yarrahi, 43, was subjected to the flogging by officers of the Morality [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/06\/multimedia\/06iran-lashing-vjcz\/06iran-lashing-vjcz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37955,43104,179449,196005,10196,19606,196004,196003,193260,18916,163229,58109,3653,175509],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253261,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253259\/revisions\/253261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}