Iranian rapper’s death sentence sparks international outrage

Tehran renews crackdown on civil liberties amid regional tensions.

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in front of the Iranian embassy in Brussels in September 2022. Picture: AFP

An Iranian court has sentenced a popular dissident rapper to death following his outspoken support of the 2022 women’s rights movement, drawing international criticism of Tehran as it renews a crackdown on dissent.

The sentence handed down by a judge in Isfahan last week against rapper Toomaj Salehi, 33, on vague national security charges is “unprecedented, ” said one of his lawyers, Mostafa Nili. Salehi denies the charges.

“No one accepts this ruling and Toomaj did not do anything wrong,” his uncle, Eghbal Eghbali, said in an interview.

Salehi has garnered a huge following among young Iranians for songs criticising government oppression and corruption.

The US special envoy for Iran, Abram Paley, along with the French and Italian governments and the Recording Academy, organiser of the Grammys music awards, condemned the decision and called for Salehi’s release.

“Toomaj’s death sentence signifies the death of our vibrant movement,” Nobel Peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, said in an online message sent from Evin prison in Tehran.

The ruling has prompted protests by diaspora Iranians, who took to the streets on Saturday in Cologne, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden. Saheli’s supporters said they also planned demonstrations in Los Angeles, Washington, Paris and other cities.

Salehi, who has over two millions followers on social media, was first arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini – a woman accused of breaching Iran’s strict dress code – in the custody of Iran’s morality police. The demonstrations over the compulsory veil quickly escalated into a movement against the regime itself.

A judge had initially recommended a death sentence against the rapper, a decision overturned by Iran’s top court in July 2023. But after being released on bail, Salehi was rearrested in October for revealing he had been tortured in jail. New charges of collusion against national security and co-operation in armed action against the system led to his death sentence last week, said lawyer Mr Nili, adding he was planning to appeal.

Salehi has refused to sign documents related to the ruling, Mr Eghbali said. “All visits and phone calls for Toomaj from outside the prison have been cut off,” he said.

The ruling comes at a time of mounting regional tensions over the war in Gaza and troubles at home, as Iran continues to grapple with an economic crisis and growing public anger. Millions boycotted parliamentary elections in March after the government restricted candidates to hardline factions.

Iran’s government may have hoped Salehi’s sentence would intimidate critics at home while being ignored abroad, said Mostafa Pakzad, an independent geopolitical risk analyst. “The world is too busy biting its nails on Gaza right now,” he said.

Tehran has focused on an indirect confrontation with Israel that set most of the Middle East on edge in recent weeks. After Israel killed three Iranian military commanders at its consulate in Damascus, Syria, Tehran took the rare step of launching a direct attack on its foe with hundreds of drones and missiles.

The same day, Tehran’s police launched a new crackdown to enforce the compulsory wearing of the hijab in the streets, which has often been ignored in recent years. Azam Jangravi, who was jailed in Iran for protesting against the veil, and now lives in Canada, said the timing was no coincidence. The Iranian authorities “regarded the issue of mandatory hijab as a profound internal security concern and resolved to address it”, she said.

Iranian officials have said they hoped international and domestic attention on Gaza would distract media outlets opposed to Tehran from their focus on its human rights record and help the government enforce its laws on hijab.

“The opposing media, which supports society’s current environment of hijab abolition, is now involved in fake Israeli affairs, so we must seize the opportunity and deal with the situation,” cleric Rasul Falahati, a regional representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader, said on April 19.

The Wall Street Journal