Iranian Singer Mehdi Yarrahi Flogged Over Song Against Mandatory Hijab

Mehdi Yarrahi became a household name after releasing a song criticizing Iran's strict dress code for women in August 2023.

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi has been given 74 lashes for a song criticizing Iran's mandatory dress code for women, ending a criminal case against him that also included a prison term.

His lawyer, Zahra Minuei, wrote on X on March 5 that Yarrahi's flogging sentence had been carried out.

Yarrahi became a household name in August 2023 after releasing a song titled Roosarito -- which translates as Your Head Scarf in Persian -- ahead of the first anniversary of the deadly nationwide protests that gave rise to the Women, Life, Freedom movement.

In January 2024, Yarrahi was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and 74 lashes over the song. He was sentenced by the court on multiple charges and the sentences ran concurrently, meaning the singer would serve one year in prison.

In a video message days ahead of the flogging, Yarrahi said his prison sentence had been changed to house arrest with an ankle monitor due to his health problems, but insisted he had not requested the flogging sentence be dropped.

Messages of support have poured in for Yarrahi on social media.

Imprisoned Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi in a statement said the flogging was "retaliation" for his support for Iranian women.

"Mehdi Yarrahi stood against the suppression of women's voices -- let us be his voice," she wrote.

Political activist and former prisoner Arash Sadeqi hailed Yarrahi for "becoming the voice of the people and amplifying their grievances."

He praised the singer for "not bowing to force" and added, "People will never forget who stood by them in their toughest days."

Your Head Scarf urges women to remove their mandatory head scarves. It was released as officials clamped down on dissent ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2023.

Amini died in police custody for an alleged hijab violation. Her death sparked the Women, Life, Freedom movement and nationwide unrest over the government's restrictions on women and their daily lives.