An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight members of her production team to 74 lashes each, alongside travel and professional restrictions, over a concert streamed on YouTube in which the singer appeared without a hijab.
Court documents reviewed by rights advocates showed that a criminal court in Qom province imposed corporal punishment and barred the artists from leaving the country or engaging in artistic activities for two years, according to The Guardian.
The group was accused of violating public morality through the production and dissemination of what authorities described as “vulgar and immoral content” online.
Although Iran’s judiciary has not publicly announced the verdict, lawyers and human rights organisations familiar with the case said the prosecution reflects a wider campaign against artists and public figures challenging the country’s strict social codes
Ahmadi, 29, attracted widespread attention in December 2024 when she performed the patriotic song Az Khoone Javanane Vatan (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland) in a livestream viewed millions of times on YouTube.
During the performance, she appeared without the mandatory Islamic head covering, triggering swift action by authorities.
The singer and several accompanying musicians were briefly detained shortly after the concert before being released.
Prosecutors later initiated formal charges linked to the publication of the video.
Bahar Ghandehari, director of advocacy at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, condemned the punishment, describing it as evidence that Tehran’s attempts to improve its image abroad had not translated into better treatment of citizens.
“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,” Ghandehari reportedly said.
She added that the case exposed “the gap between the regime’s propaganda and reality.”
Human rights lawyer Moein Khazaeli of Dadban, a legal support centre for Iranian activists, argued that the charges had no basis under Iranian law.
“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,” Khazaeli said.
“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.”
The ruling has sparked fresh concerns among artists and activists over what they describe as increasing cultural repression in Iran.
Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi criticised the sentence, saying, “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.”
Setareh Maleki, an Iranian actress living in exile after appearing in director Mohammad Rasoulof’s Oscar-nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, said Ahmadi’s performance inspired renewed resistance.
“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,” she told The Guardian.
“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 that defying censorship had become an act of daily resistance for many Iranian artists.
“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,” she said.
