Majlis to investigate forced cancellation of provincial concerts

TEHRAN –(Iranart)- The Majlis Cultural Committee is scheduled to investigate the cancellation of concerts forced by provincial judicial authorities, committee member Parvaneh Salahshuri said on Saturday.

The decision was made after the public prosecutor of Quchan ordered the cancellation of a concert by top Iranian vocalist Shahram Nazeri in the town in Razavi Khorasan Province.

“This issue will be discussed in the committee and it will investigate why unrelated authorities intervene in cultural issues,” Salahshuri told the Islamic Consultative Assembly News.

The legal authorizations for a musical performance are issued by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, she said and added that the public prosecutor’s ruling to cancel the performance should be considered as breach of separation of powers act.

Salahshuri said that the provincial judicial authorities order the cancellation of concerts under pressure from certain political groups, which are opposed to music.

“The political groups should clearly express their views on music once and for all,” she noted.

Quchan Public Prosecutor Ramezan-Ali Azari attended a press conference on Saturday and said that there is no objection to performing concerts in the town and added the concert was cancelled due to the fact that Quchan Workers’ Arena was unsafe to host concertgoers for the performance.   

Last week, pop singers Hamd Homayun and Fereidun Aserai were forced to cancel their concerts in Yazd and Karaj by orders from provincial authorities.