Parastoo Ahmadi among nine artists sentenced to flogging and professional bans

Hengaw – Thursday, June 18, 2026

An Iranian court has sentenced singer Parastoo Ahmadi, musicians Ehsan Beiraqdar and Soheil Faqih Nasiri, alongside six other members of the production team behind the "Caravanserai Concert," to 74 lashes, travel bans, and artistic restrictions.

Information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights shows that the Criminal Court of Qom Province sentenced Ahmadi, 29, and eight musicians and production staff involved in the concert to 74 lashes each, a two-year ban on leaving the country, and a two-year ban on all artistic activities.

The Iranian judiciary accused the nine artists of "offending public decency through the production and publication of obscene and immoral content on cyberspace platforms."

The case stems from a symbolic audience-free concert that Ahmadi and her ensemble performed at the Deir-e Gachin Caravanserai in Qom in January 2025 and broadcast live on her YouTube channel. The performance prompted a security crackdown that led to the arrests of Ahmadi, pianist Ehsan Beiraqdar, and electric guitarist Soheil Faqih Nasiri by the Public Security Police in December 2024. Following a brief detention, they were released on bail on January 22, 2025, after appearing before the Prosecutor's Office for Moral Security.

Ahmadi, who was born in Nowshahr, Mazandaran Province, in April 1997, graduated in film directing from Soore University. She gained prominence during the 2022 protests after performing a rendition of the patriotic song "Az Khoon-e Javanan-e Vatan" by Aref Qazvini and has since released several works inspired by Mazandarani folk music.