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Rock music and women cyclists: resistance in the holiest city in Iran

For Iranian rock musician Pooyan Ghandi, these are things that can only be dreamed of by the roar of the crowd and the excitement of live performances.

The 34-year-old lives in the religious city of Mashhad. Concerts have been banned for more than a decade in the theocratic state after arguments were strongly opposed to Islamic teachings.

While such restrictions are rare in other parts of Iran and Tehran, it is possible to see live music, with musicians like Ghandi and himself spending days in Iran’s holiest city composing music that is unlikely to be played by the crowd.

“There are a lot of people in Mashhad who sit in their room and work with a computer, upload music and post it on audio streaming platforms,” Ghandi said from his studio in his family’s home.

“It has become the music of Mashhad [a symbol of] muscle flexion “between reformers and hardliners,” he added. “There is no call to prayer rooted in religious beliefs because it is music. Reciting the Koran is music. “

With centrist President Hassan Rouhani intending to step down after two terms in office, the toughest are expected to secure the presidency in the June 18 referendum. Three of the seven candidates, including pioneer Ebrahim Raisi, have their roots in Mashhad, the site of Iran’s largest shrine, where the eighth Muslim Shiite Imam, Reza, is buried and a stronghold for the hard.

If Mashhad’s experience is enough, Raisi’s victory could lead to greater social and cultural repression. Raisi’s father-in-law, the main character in Mashhad, is one of the country’s most controversial clergymen. Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, 76, banned concerts in Mashhad and said women were not allowed to ride bicycles in the city. Ayatollah has previously expressed concern that some Iranian women were more likely to be role models for Sophia Loren than the daughters of the prophet Fatemeh Mohammad.

Pooyan Ghandi, a rock musician, lives in the city and has been banned from concerts for more than a decade © Najmeh Bozorgmehr / FT

When Raisi last ran for president four years ago, it was widely reported that he would build walls on the sidewalks to separate men and women. “Raisi will manage a cultural sector based on Islamic values,” said Hamid-Reza Taraghi, a staunch politician of Mashhad, who opposes concerts that promote Western values ​​and allow men and women to dance together. This month her daughter told state television that her father had created a women-only section at the Mashhad shrine. He said he would make “bridges” for men and women not to build walls.

But even if Raisi tries to repeat his father-in-law’s plan, analysts say the Mashhad experience makes it clear that even the most conservative cities are struggling to ensure compliance.

Despite the religious ban, women can still be seen cycling. Cafes playing recordings of Western music have opened. Young women dress fashionably and wear the obligatory headscarves on their shoulders at times. Private parties are common. Analysts say the main difference from other big cities is that if they arrest you for drinking alcohol, they will probably condemn you to punishment with flogging.

“Hardliners, if elected, will try to impose more restrictions on the cultural sector but it is very difficult for Iranians to go back to pre-internet and pre-Instagram times,” said Majid Fouladiyan, professor of Cultural Sociology at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad.

If Mashhad’s tougher restrictions push the city’s identity of resistance, he said, a view repeated by others. Mashhad now has some of the most private music studios in the country, said Ali Alavi, editor of the Khorasan newspaper, a conservative outlet in Mashhad. He added: “The mandate of more than 40 years shows us that the announced policies cannot be [necessarily] forcibly implemented “.

The biggest concern for most ordinary Iranians is not moral or social issues, but the economy. “We have one of the biggest economic cartels in the world in Mashhad [affiliated to the shrine] but there are people in this city who eat bread with tomato paste, ”said one analyst.

When sanctions hit the economy hard and with disappointment, the poor can still become the biggest threat to the Islamic republic, “perhaps even an existential threat,” the analyst said. The first incidents of economic hardship occurred in 2017 and began in Mashhad with a population of 3 million and “here we can see signs of an uprising of hungry and barefoot people here as a third of the Mashhad population lives in poor neighborhoods,” he said.

the eighth Muslim Shiite Imam, Reza, is buried
Shrine of the eighth Shiite imam of music, Reza, buried in the city © Najmeh Bozorgmehr / FT

Many in Mashhad believe that this disappointment has not fueled their desire to vote. “I will never vote. I haven’t been able to save a penny in the last four years, “said Reza, a 37-year-old shopkeeper in a grocery store.” Managers are weak and strong or strong and strong. Why should I fool myself? ”

Other voters question the tougher focus on regional policies. Cyrus Milani, also a Gashdi-like Mashhad singer and musician who works from home, finds it difficult to rationalize Syrian and Palestinian Iranian support in “places with live concerts” and yet concerts are banned at home. “I’m very upset and I have little income, but I can’t do anything other than make my own music,” he said. “It’s the first year. I don’t know who is running for president and who doesn’t intend to vote.”

Other values ​​are also important, as the people of Mashhad say, not least in public affairs and equity in probability. Not far from where Ghandi lives, a 33-storey apartment block is being built tied to a 30-year-old male politician, site staff said. The English posters suggest that the building will have billiards and banquet halls and will also have a spa.

For Ghandi, the lack of income and reduced performance have affected his creativity.

“We would get beyond our dreams. We could help to promote people’s taste in music, their performances and the quality of their music, “he added.” Now we see what has happened with music, what is happening with bread. When a tree [Iran] not well cared for, leaves first [music] it goes down to the roots and then it gets closer. “


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