Iranian Musicians, Social Media Users Speak Out After Singer Sentenced to 74 Lashes: ‘Barbaric’

Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi has been sentenced to 74 lashes for performing in a YouTube concert without a hijab — and social media users around the world are responding with outrage.

Ahmadi streamed the virtual concert on her YouTube channel back in December 2024, but the Qom Provincial Criminal Court in Iran has now charged her with publishing “vulgar and immoral content” online, a ruling that also bars her and her eight-member team from leaving Iran or taking part in artistic activities for two years, The Guardian reported on Friday, June 19.

“It means the Stone Age is appearing in front of our eyes,” Iranian musician Hossein Alizadeh said in a video posted by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.

Hana Kamkar, an Iranian singer now living in exile, also spoke out in support of Ahmadi.

“Girls are still singing in Iran,” she told the outlet, despite the country’s bans on women’s solo performances, strict dress codes, and years of mounting pressure.

Kamkar also described Ahmadi’s hijab-free virtual concert as an act of defiance that put Iranian women’s struggles on full display for the world to see.

Kamkar’s remarks came months after she gave her first unrestricted solo concert in October in Berlin, IranWire reported, something Iranian law had barred her from doing throughout her entire career.

The singer, actress, and filmmaker, who comes from Iran’s prominent Kamkar musical family, left the country after a 24-year fight against censorship.

Over the years, she’d been pulled off stage mid-performance, had her microphone cut during shows, and heard her voice erased from concert recordings, as per IranWire. She was ultimately banned from working altogether after appearing in a 2017 play.

The sentencing has also sparked a wave of reaction on social media, with users expressing outrage at the Iranian regime and solidarity with Ahmadi.

“This is barbaric,” wrote one user on X. The user added, “An Iranian singer sentenced to 74 lashes just for performing without a hijab. This is the true face of the IRGC terrorist regime — brutal, oppressive, and treating women like slaves.”

Another user argued that the international community should welcome Iran “to the modern world,” adding that “isolating them will keep them in this weird cycle of despair.”

“The punishment for this concert is inhumane,” one fan wrote. “Fight for the right to express art! Fight for free speech! Parastoo Ahmadi, you are an amazing artist!”

Another user echoed the disbelief, reacting on YouTube, “How is this being tolerated in the world. 74 lashes for singing? So so so sad this is our world.”

One supporter framed Ahmadi’s actions as part of a larger movement, writing, “Singing and wearing whatever you want for a woman is not allowed and this brave woman, just like thousand of Iranian woman decided to risk her life and her future for changing the borders, respect for Parasto!”