Iran arrests music producers in crackdown on ‘decadent’ pop videos
Iranian authorities have detained many music producers connected to a California-based Iranian pop singer in Tehran's latest effort to halt what it deems decadent Western behaviour.
The arrests ca me as Iranian social media has been awash withcriticismofthenewmusic video of the singer, Sasy – real name Sasan Heidari Yafteh.
The video for the song, Tehran Tokyo, features actresses including an American porn star dancing in kimonos and short bodycon dresses on top of cars and in bars. The clip has racked up 18 million views in a week.
Over the years, Sasy has becomeknownforcontentious lyrics that Iranian conservatives see as tainting the country's moral probity.
In a previous song which also featured a porn actress, he instructed teenagers to take alcohol shots if they cannot fall asleep and to scroll through Instagram instead of finishing their homework.
In Iran, where the governmentretainstightcontrolsover traditionalmediasuchasnewspapers and television, authorities have used courts to patrol social media platforms beyond their reach.
Hours before the video went live late on Wednesday, Iranian security forces detained two popular music arrangers who workedonthesonginthesouthern city of Shiraz and raided theirstudio,accordingtosasy's manager, Farshid Rafe Rafahi, the chief executive of Los Angeles-based EMH Productions.
The brothers, Mohsen and Behrouz Manouchehri, fac e prosecutionbyacriminalcourt in Tehran, he added.
A week ago, the song's teaser, featuring the well known porn performer Alexis Texas, fuelled such public consternation that authorities pledged to investigate the app that carried thevideo.referringtomstexas, Mr Rafahi said: "It's pretty crazy, she's just dancing like any person in any ordinary music video, she's not doing anything inappropriate in these scenes."
Semi-officialnewsagenciesin
Iran confirmed several arrests on Wednesday, alleging that Sasy's associates in Iran had produced music "contrary to culture".
The Fars news agency, believedtobeclosetoiran'sparamilitaryrevolutionaryguard, alsoaccusedthemusicproducers in Iran of running gambling websites at Sasy's behest.
Mr Rafahi said the gambling accusations stemmed from a misunderstanding, given that a poker website helped sponsor the music video.
Sasy is now a permanent resident of the US and has lived in exilesinceleavinghiscareerasa successfulundergroundrapper in Iran in 2009. Since the video came out, Iran has promised to "pursue his case with internationallegalauthorities",according to the Fars report.
While hardliners consider the song a Western assault on Islamic teachings, thousands in the country are of a different mind. Scores of teenagers and twenty-somethingshaveposted videosonsocialmedialip-syncing, dancing and striking poses to Tehran Tokyo in their living rooms, kitchens and workplaces.
In the clips, many women wear bright lipstick and few cover their hair with the hijab.
Iranian semi-official news agencies reported that those who "cooperated with Sasy" wouldwouldface"decisivejudicial action".