Parastoo Ahmadi, an Iranian singer and composer, along with two musicians who collaborated with her on the “Imaginary Concert” project, has been arrested. The concert, performed without mandatory hijab, had recently gained widespread attention after being shared online.
Milad Panahi-Pour, Ahmadi’s lawyer, confirmed on Saturday, December 24, that his client was arrested in Mazandaran Province. Soheil Faghih-Nassiri, an electric guitar player, and Ehsan Birkdar, a pianist and music arranger, who also participated in the concert, were separately detained at their music school in Tehran.
On December 21, Ahmadi posted a video of the “Imaginary Concert” on her YouTube channel. The performance, recorded at an Iranian caravanserai, quickly went viral, receiving over 1.3 million views in just three days and drawing significant public and media attention.
However, the day after its release, the Islamic Republic’s judiciary announced charges against Ahmadi and others involved in the project.
Panahi-Pour expressed concern about the lack of transparency surrounding the case, noting that no details have been provided about the charges, the identity of the detaining agency, or the location of the detainees. He also criticized the arrests, which occurred without prior notice or legal summons, despite expectations of a standard judicial process.
Ahmadi’s “Imaginary Concert” is widely seen as a continuation of the growing resistance by Iranian women against mandatory hijab laws. This movement, which has been championed by women’s rights activists for years, gained significant traction during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
In the performance, Ahmadi wore a necklace shaped like the map of Iran. She wrote in the video description:
“I am Parastoo, a girl who wants to sing for the people she loves. This is a right I couldn’t ignore—singing for the land I deeply love.”
Ahmadi had previously faced legal action for performing “Az Khoon-e Javanane Vatan” (“From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland”) during the nationwide protests of 2022.
