Who is Parastoo Ahmadi? Iranian singer sentenced to 74 lashes for livestreaming concert without hijab

Parastoo Ahmadi, an Iranian artist, and eight members of a production team, including musicians, were reportedly condemned to 74 lashes for performing in a concert livestreamed on Ahmadi's YouTube page in 2024.

The ruling was reportedly issued by a criminal court in Iran's Qom province. Along with flogging, all nine individuals were barred from leaving the country and from engaging in artistic work for two years.

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The case stems from a December 2024 performance that was broadcast on Ahmadi's YouTube channel and later amassed millions of views.

During the concert, Ahmadi appeared without the mandatory hijab and performed the patriotic song "From The Blood Of The Youth of the Homeland" along with other musical pieces. The performance took place without a live audience and was presented as an artistic statement against restrictions imposed on women performers in Iran.

Under Iran's interpretation of Islamic law, women face severe limitations on solo public singing and must comply with strict dress regulations, including mandatory hijab requirements. The criminal court of Qom province has labelled the content “vulgar and immoral.”

Shortly after its publication, she and the other musicians were briefly arrested before being released. The video has since received millions of views on YouTube, and authorities subsequently filed a formal case about its distribution.

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Parastoo Ahmadi is an Iranian singer and composer who became widely known for challenging Iran's restrictions on female performers.

Ahmadi gained international recognition for her performance in December 2024 when she staged what she called an "imaginary concert" at a historic caravanserai in Iran.

Wearing a sleeveless black dress and appearing without a head covering, she livestreamed the performance on YouTube. The event quickly went viral and was widely shared by supporters of the Women, Life, Freedom movement that emerged after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.

Several activists and prominent figures condemned the move. The punishment had no legal foundation, according to Moein Khazaeli, a human rights attorney at Dadban, a legal counseling center for Iranian activists.

Khazaeli said, “Singing, performing music and producing or disseminating musical works by women are not criminalised under Iranian criminal law. Consequently, such activities cannot reasonably be construed as the ‘production, distribution or publication of obscene content.’”

Although not surprising, the decision has increased Iranian artists' concerns about growing cultural censorship.

Nazanin Boniadi, an Iranian-British actor, said, “The sentencing of singer Parastoo Ahmadi to flogging for the simple act of singing publicly without a hijab is a stark reminder that, despite talk in Washington of a ‘new regime’ in Iran, the Islamic Republic’s machinery of repression remains unchanged.”