Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The decision is akin to one made in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Hip-hop blares from car radios in the streets of the Iranian capital, and Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" regularly accompany Iranian news broadcasts.
But Clapton, Kenny G., George Michael and other singers incongruously popular in Iran will be off the airwaves after hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a decree banning Western music from the country's radio and TV stations.
The decision was an eerie reminder of the 1979 Islamic revolution when popular music was outlawed as "un-Islamic" under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban all Western music, including classical music, on state broadcast outlets.
"Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required," according to a statement on the council's official Web site.
The Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour lamented what he called a "terrible" decision. "The decision shows a lack of knowledge and experience," he said.
In 1979
Music was outlawed by Khomeini soon after the 1979 revolution. Many musicians went abroad and built an Iranian music industry in Los Angeles.
But as revolutionary fervor started to fade, some light classical music was allowed on Iranian radio and television; some public concerts reappeared in the late 1980s.
In the 1990s, particularly during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami starting in 1997, authorities began relaxing restrictions further. These days in Iran, Western music, films and clothing are widely available. Bootleg videos and DVDs of films banned by the state are widely available on the black market.
Ahmadinejad's order means the state broadcasting authority must execute the decree and prepare a report on its implementation within six months, according to the IRAN Persian daily.
Symphony conductor protests
Earlier this month, Ali Rahbari, conductor of Tehran's symphony orchestra, resigned and left Iran to protest the treatment of the music industry in Iran.
Before leaving, he played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to packed Tehran theater houses over several nights last month -- its first performance in Tehran since the 1979 revolution. The performances angered many conservatives and prompted newspaper columns accusing Rahbari of promoting Western values.
The ban applies to state-run radio and TV. But Iranians with satellite dishes can get broadcasts originating outside the country.
Ahmadinejad won office in August on a platform of reverting to ultraconservative principles, afterthe eight years of reformist-led rule under Khatami.
During his presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad also promised to confront what he called the Western cultural invasion of Iran and to promote Islamic values.
Big changes
Since then, Ahmadinejad has jettisoned Iran's moderation in foreign policy and pursued a purge in the government, replacing pragmatic veterans with former military commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners.
He also has issued stinging criticisms of Israel, calling for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map" and describing the Nazi Holocaust as a "myth."
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