Western music banned in Iran

[jseankil]

George Michael, Eric Clapton and Kenny G will no longer be heard on Iranian airwaves after hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a decree banning Western music from the country’s radio and TV stations.

The official IRAN Persian daily reported today that Ahmadinejad, as head of Iran’s Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enacting of an October ruling by the council for Western songs to be banned. “Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is required,” according to a statement on the council’s official website. “This is terrible,” said Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour, whose music was occasionally played on state radio and television. “The decision shows a lack of knowledge and experience.”

...snip...

“Supervision of content from films, TV series and their voice-overs is emphasised in order to support spiritual cinema and to eliminate violence,” the council said in a statement on its website explaining its October ruling. Since then, he 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 promised to confront what he called the Western cultural invasion and promote Islamic values during his presidential campaign. Western music, films and clothing are widely available in Iran, and hip-hop tunes can be heard on Tehran’s streets, blaring from car speakers or from music shops. Bootleg videos and DVDs of films banned by the state are widely available on the black market.

...snip...

The council has also issued a ban on foreign films that promote “arrogant powers”, an apparent reference to the United States.

-full-
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=166524926&p=y665z563z