Iran sentences singer Parastoo Ahmadi and eight others to lashings over performance without hijab

The artists will also face a two-year travel ban and a two-year restriction on all artistic activity after the Iranian judiciary found the nine artists had offended public decency.

Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi along with musicians Ehsan Beiraqdar and Soheil Faqih Nasiri and six production team members from the Caravanserai Concert received orders for 74 lashes each from the Qom Province criminal courts. Iranian human rights groups and diaspora media outlets shared the announcement on Thursday.

The group faces additional penalties including a two-year travel ban and a two-year ban on artistic work. The judiciary determined that the nine individuals violated public decency by creating and sharing obscene and immoral material on online platforms.

Authorities first detained the performers after their show appeared on YouTube in December 2025. They later received summons to the Prosecutor's Office for Moral Security in January.

The Qom Provincial Criminal Court charged the group under provisions of the Islamic Penal Code such as Article 638 and Article 743 of the Computer Crimes Law according to BBC Persian.

Article 638 addresses acts viewed as open religious taboos or offenses to public decency including appearing without a hijab while Article 743 covers the promotion of corruption or acts offensive to public morality through digital means.

During the performance Ahmadi sang without wearing a hijab. Iranian rules also prohibit women from singing before audiences that include men with flogging as a common penalty.

Women singing not against Iranian law lawyer argues

The Iranian legal group Dadban noted that lawyer Mohammad Hadi Jafarpour stated that Iranian law does not criminalize a woman singing and that such readings of the penal code lack basis.

The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency cited the head of the Information Center of the Mazandaran Province Police Command who said that after the release of a video by Ms. Parastoo Ahmadi deemed contrary to social norms and values she was called to the Public Security Police and directed to appear before judicial authorities.

Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad responded to the ruling by noting that they call America the Great Satan and then signed a deal with the Devil but a woman's voice scared them more than any superpower ever could.

A regime that whips women for showing their hair and singing is not a normal government. This is called apartheid against women.