Iranian Singer Sentenced to 74 Lashes for Performing ‘Without a Hijab’

An Iranian singer has reportedly been sentenced to 74 lashes for performing without a hijab, The Guardian reported on Friday, June 19.

The singer, identified as Parastoo Ahmadi, 29, and eight members of her production team staged a concert that was livestreamed on her YouTube channel in 2024.

As per the report, she sang the historic patriotic anthem “Az Khoon-e Javanan-e Vatan” (“From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland”).

Video of the “Caravanserai Concert” has since gone viral.

According to the BBC, the criminal court of Qom province sentenced Ahmadi and several musicians to flogging, a two-year ban on leaving the country, and a two-year ban on artistic activity.

The judiciary’s official news agency has not yet published the ruling; however, court documents seen by lawyers and rights groups reportedly state that the charges include offending public decency by producing and publishing “vulgar and immoral content” online, according to The Guardian.

Human rights advocates say the case shows conditions in Iran have not improved, deepening fears of escalating cultural repression among the country’s artists, even amid peace talks between the U.S. war with Iran.

Fatemeh Shams, a professor of Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania, condemned the ruling on X.

“Peace is not merely the silencing of missile sounds or the subsiding of bombardment flames,” she wrote, arguing that true peace is impossible “when no woman is branded a criminal for working, studying, singing, or choosing her own lifestyle.”

Another user reacted to the verdict on X, calling it, “Unbelievable cruel regime.”