74 lashes for a song? Iran’s punishment of singer Parastoo Ahmadi sparks global outrage.

‘Accommodating A Regime That Flogs Women For Their Voices And Kills Citizens For Demanding Their Rights Only Emboldens It To Continue Down Its Tyrannical Path’
Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of a production team, including musicians, have reportedly been sentenced to 74 lashes for participating in a concert that was livestreamed on Ahmadi’s YouTube channel in 2024.

According to court documents, the Criminal Court of Qom Province handed down the sentence, alongside a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year prohibition from engaging in artistic activities. The charges include offending public decency through the production and publication of what authorities described as “vulgar and immoral content” online.
In December 2024, the 29-year-old singer performed the patriotic song Az Khoone Javanane Vatan (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland) without wearing a hijab during a livestreamed performance that later went viral.
In the Islamic context, a hijab refers to the headscarf worn by many Muslim women to cover their hair, neck and chest in the presence of unrelated males.
Ahmadi was briefly detained along with several musicians shortly after the song was released before they were later freed.
Authorities subsequently opened a formal case regarding the publication of the video, which has since attracted millions of views on YouTube.
Although Iran’s official judiciary news agency has yet to publish the ruling, rights groups and lawyers who reviewed the court documents said the arrests and prosecutions of artists who publicly challenge restrictions reflect a broader effort to discourage cultural dissent.
Director of Advocacy at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, Bahar Ghandehari, said:
“Ahmadi’s punishment of 74 lashes for merely singing and appearing without a hijab is yet another reminder that human rights conditions in Iran have not changed, despite the Iranian authorities’ wartime propaganda campaign aimed at improving their image.”
She added that the prosecution of artists exposes what she described as a significant gap between official messaging and realities on the ground.
Human rights lawyer at Dadban, a legal counselling centre for Iranian activists, Moein Khazaeli, argued that the sentence lacks legal justification.
“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’,” he said.
Khazaeli further stated:
“The imposition of a flogging sentence against artists, civil society activists or other citizens is not merely a matter of domestic criminal law. It also raises serious concerns regarding states’ international obligations to prohibit torture and safeguard human dignity.
“For this reason, numerous human rights organisations consider flogging not a legitimate form of punishment, but rather a form of torture and inhuman treatment.”
For many Iranian artists, the ruling has heightened concerns about increasing cultural repression.
Iranian-British actor Nazanin Boniadi 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.
“Accommodating a regime that flogs women for their voices and kills citizens for demanding their rights only emboldens it to continue down its tyrannical path.”
Iranian actor Setareh Maleki, who went into exile after appearing in Mohammad Rasoulof’s Oscar-nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, said Ahmadi’s performance had a profound emotional effect on her.
She said:
“When I watched the video of Parastoo Ahmadi’s concert, it reignited the spirit of resistance in me. For days, I kept watching the videos over and over again, and I felt immensely proud of Parastoo.
“Knowing all the consequences she would have to face, she still refused to give up her right, as a woman, to live, to sing and to be heard. Iranian women never stop fighting against tyranny, not even for a moment, and that is truly remarkable.”
Maleki added:
“For an Iranian artist who refuses to comply with censorship inside Iran, the daily routine is a form of resistance.
“We’ve come a long way but there is still a long road ahead. I’m grateful that every day another beloved artist reminds us of hope again and becomes a guiding light.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Parastoo Ahmadi singing.