Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that music is incompatible with the Iranian revolution, and hence he is not available to dj at weddings, baptisms or bar mitzvahs. Shame.
In response to a question from a student, the “supreme leader” commented: “Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”
Which makes now probably as good a time as any to tell you that the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine will focus on censorship of music and musicians.
The wife and brother-in-law of the lawyer who defended Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning for alleged adultery, have been arrested. The lawyer, Mohammed Mostafaei, who is also a human rights activist, drew international attention to the case, which eventually forced the Iranian authorites to overturn the ruling. On Saturday his office was searched and he was arrested but later released.
