Iran Artists in Tug of War With Government

Iran's greatest master of traditional music, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, always avoided open clashes with his country's ruling hard-line clerics.

This Nov. 11, 2009 photo shows Iranian legendary singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian, performing in a ceremony commemorating the late musician Parviz Meshkatian in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Ali Shaigan)

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So it was a bombshell when Shajarian — so revered that his audiences pelt him with roses — demanded state radio and TV stop broadcasting his music as a protest against the government. The state broadcaster complied.

What pushed Shajarian into action was the government's brutal crackdown on protests over the June 12 election that Shajarian and millions of other Iranians believe fraudulently gave a second term to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"After what happened, I said 'no way' and threatened to file a complaint against them if they continued to use my music," Shajarian told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Iran's political turmoil has raised a culture clash as hundreds of musicians, actors, filmmakers, poets and writers have spoken out against the government for its suppression of dissent and arrest of thousands. In a particular embarrassment to the government, the filmmaker daughter of Ahmadinejad's own culture adviser sought asylum in Germany in October, citing the crackdown at home.

The government has responded by accusing artists of falling prey to foreign "enemies" and by stepping up pressure for their work to toe its ideological line. More than 100 artists have had their works banned or have been prevented from traveling abroad. Others have been detained.

Ahmadinejad's art adviser, Javad Shamaqdari, last summer threatened to ban artists from film festivals. "The enemy, which has been thwarted in its plans for a velvet coup, is trying to keep up the fever of their subversive activities at foreign art and cinematic events," he said in Tehran.

One TV producer says that since the election, authorities have unofficially barred actors who are considered unacceptable from appearing on shows.

"They tell us 'give us a list of artists you want to use.' When we give them the list, they say 'this and this person are not suitable,'" said the producer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.