Iranian authorities arrested, but later released, singer Parasta Ahmadi for posting a video of her concert without a hijab on YouTube. The video has been viewed two million times and has become a new symbol of Iran’s protest.
On December 11, Ahmadi started the concert by saying, “I want to sing for the people I love. It is a right that I cannot ignore. I want to sing for the country that I love so much.”
In the video, she appears in a black, off-the-shoulder dress without a hijab, and her long hair is loose. The concert lasts 27 minutes, during which he performs seven songs with folk motifs and states that it is “imaginative.” The concert was held in an old caravanserai, but its exact location is still being determined.
Although YouTube is blocked in Iran, the speech was viewed 150,000 times on the first day and has since reached two million views.
The authorities began to pursue the singer.
