A number of figures in Iran’s music industry have been arrested after a US-based Iranian musician produced a music video with suggestive undertones.
The video Tehran Tokyo by Sasan Heidari Yafteh, who goes by the stage name Sasy, depicts women dancing. Among these is well-known pornographic actress Alexis Texas.
Sasy has previously courted the ire of the Iranian authorities with his lyrics, which are viewed as inciting moral decadence. He has lived in effective exile in the US since 2009, before which he had built a reputation in Iran for his underground music.
Shortly before the video was released, Iranian authorities arrested two music arrangers – Mohsen and Behrouz Manouchehri – who had worked on the song. They face criminal prosecution.
Teaser clips of the video had already generated a reaction from Iranian authorities before the video itself was released. Sasy’s manager, Farshid Rafe Rafahi, dismissed these as an overreaction. In reference to Alexis Texas, he said: ‘It’s pretty crazy, she’s just dancing like any person in any ordinary music video, she’s not doing anything inappropriate in these scenes.’
Iran has vowed to pursue the matter internationally.
[Image: MyName (Toglenn (talk)), https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65287819]