After 47 years spent abroad, Iranian musician Bijan Mortazavi returned to his homeland. Mortazavi is one of the most famous Iranian violinists, singers and composers. In July 2026 he performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the closing concert of the FIFA World Cup accompanied by his famous white violin.
In the videos that he and his wife recently posted on social media, the couple appears walking around the city of Tehran. Passers-by greet the musician kindly and welcome him.
Singer Mohsen Namjo also returned to Iran after spending about 20 years in exile. This singer is world-famous for his experimental Persian music, which combines traditional Persian singing and poetic texts with elements of blues, rock, jazz and folk (folk music).
Namjoo was sentenced in absentia in 2009 to five years in prison by a court in Tehran. He was charged with charges including insulting holy places and mocking verses from the Qur’an. He justified his return to Iran in a video by saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and friends.
Return as a political tool
On Thursday, August 27, 2026, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Abbas Salehi, stated in an interview with the Farhikhtegan newspaper that his ministry had prepared lists of names of more than 100 prominent Iranian figures living abroad. He explained that the aim of this is to remove the obstacles that prevent them from traveling or returning to Iran.
Salehi stressed that "critics of the Islamic Republic" can also return at any time. He pointed out that the return of artists does not necessarily mean that they will perform in Iran, but they can also simply visit the country.
In his interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), human rights lawyer Sina Yousefi referred to international law, especially Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has also acceded to. Under this article, no person may be arbitrarily prevented from entering his country. This right cannot be linked to the extent of the citizen's loyalty to the government.
"The idea of searching for certain well-known figures who the reformists in particular believed had not crossed the 'red lines' to a significant extent and to win them cooperation or bring them back to the scene is not new," says ethnomusicologist Sepideh Rissadat in an interview with DW. Risadat has been studying the history and development of Persian music for years.
As an internationally renowned performer of Persian classical music, she combines her artistic work with scientific research. In her doctoral thesis, she addressed the lives of Iranian female singers since 1979.
Between censorship and resistance
“The 1979 revolution in Iran was a revolution against music. Music was one of the red lines,” Rissadat says. In this regard, it refers to the statements of the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, who in July 1979 publicly described music as harmful to society and called for its complete abolition.
In a speech to Radio Darya staff on 21 July 1979 he is said to have described music as a "betrayal of the homeland" and a "betrayal of the youth". A few days later, the Iranian Kayhan newspaper quoted Khomeini as saying that music was “like a drug” and must be completely eradicated.
But during the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted from 1980 to 1988, music returned in the form of revolutionary and religious songs. It has also been used to mobilize feelings of national pride and belonging. They were also unable to completely exclude the female voice from the public space. “They couldn't even completely eliminate the female voice. The female voice came back through choral singing,” Rissadat says.
But the struggle between the state and music continued. For many years, musical instruments were banned on Iranian television. On the streets, machines were confiscated or destroyed. Musicians rarely dared to carry their instruments openly, and some hid them in the car.
“Listening to banned music at home is a political act. When women started singing, it also became a political act,” Risadat says.
The development of Iranian folk music was also part of this political and cultural tension. “New local folk music began to be produced to compete with music coming out of Los Angeles,” Risadat says.
At the same time, social networks have gained increasing importance over the past ten years. It is not entirely subject to government control and therefore has great influence. Today, this change is particularly evident among young people: young women play the guitar without wearing the hijab and perform in front of the public.
Music as a means of expressing protest
Risadat notes a particular development among the relatives of young people who were killed during the nationwide protests in late December 2025 and in January 2026. The protests began on December 28, 2025 and were violently suppressed by security forces. Human rights organizations report that thousands of demonstrators have died, and exact numbers are not known due to the comprehensive ban on information.
“The most important thing we have witnessed during these years is the use of music by the families of those killed in the protests. This completely contradicts Shiite traditions and our history,” says Risadat.
At some funerals, relatives turned ceremonies of mourning for their loved ones' stolen lives into a new form of protest. Instead of religious hymns, music started and relatives started singing and dancing to its tunes. In doing so, they created a deliberate contrast with traditional religious mourning rituals.
“Music became a weapon: mourners were able to form a connection to it themselves and at the same time it was in conflict with what the political system represented,” Risadat says, adding, “Dancing in white clothes also became an expression of this resistance.”
