Iranian singer Hiva Seyfizadeh has been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of “encouraging corruption and prostitution,” following her arrest during a live performance in Tehran in February 2025. Her conviction is the latest example of the Iranian authorities’ continued criminalization of women’s voices and artistic expression, amid a growing movement by young female singers challenging the decades-long ban on women singing solo in public.
Seyfizadeh announced the sentence in a video posted on her Instagram account. Questioning the basis of the charges against her, she said:
“I was sentenced to four years in prison for encouraging corruption and prostitution… What specific behavior of mine constitutes encouraging corruption and prostitution? How can singing the poetry of Saadi or performing Iranian traditional music possibly constitute such an offense?”
Seyfizadeh was arrested on February 27, 2025, while performing at Rooberoo Mansion (Emarat-e Rooberoo), a cultural venue in central Tehran. Security forces reportedly entered the venue during the concert and detained her. She was later released on bail.
Two members of the venue’s management have also received severe prison sentences in connection with the case. Houman Memarpanahi, director of Rooberoo Mansion, was sentenced to ten years in prison, while Ghazal Nahani, the venue’s public relations manager, received a seven-year prison sentence.
Criminalizing Women’s Voices
Seyfizadeh’s prosecution is not an isolated case. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, women have effectively been prohibited from singing solo before mixed-gender audiences. For more than four decades, female singers have largely been restricted to performing for women-only audiences or singing alongside male vocalists. Women who challenge these restrictions risk prosecution under vaguely defined morality-related offenses, including accusations of promoting “corruption” and “prostitution.”
In the years following the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, however, a new generation of young Iranian women has increasingly challenged these restrictions. By performing publicly and sharing their music through social media, they are reclaiming women’s voices and presence in cultural and public spaces.
Among them is Zara Esmaeili, a young singer whose street performances without compulsory hijab circulated widely on social media. She was subsequently arrested and detained and eventually forced to leave Iran.
Another prominent case is that of Parastoo Ahmadi, whose performance at the Deir-e Gachin Caravanserai, streamed live on YouTube in December 2024, attracted millions of viewers. Ahmadi performed alongside male musicians without compulsory hijab, openly challenging restrictions imposed on both women’s voices and their bodily autonomy. She was subsequently arrested and prosecuted and later sentenced to flogging.
Seyfizadeh’s arrest in February 2025 was followed by further pressure on female singers. Several women were summoned and interrogated, legal cases were opened against them, and some had their social media accounts blocked by judicial authorities. At the time, a female singer told Femena that security agencies were repeatedly contacting and summoning young performers for interrogation, many of whom had little previous experience dealing with security institutions and were particularly vulnerable to intimidation and coercion.
Women’s Artistic Resistance After Woman, Life, Freedom
The growing visibility of female singers should be understood within the broader transformation of Iranian society following the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Women’s continued refusal to comply with compulsory hijab, their increased presence in public spaces, and their efforts to reclaim areas of cultural and artistic life from which they have historically been excluded represent interconnected forms of civil resistance against institutionalized gender discrimination.
The right of women to sing, perform, create art, and participate equally in cultural life is a fundamental right. Treating a woman’s voice as evidence of “corruption and prostitution” is a discriminatory practice aimed at controlling women’s public presence and silencing their artistic expression.
Femena condemns the four-year prison sentence imposed on Hiva Seyfizadeh, as well as the severe sentences handed down to Houman Memarpanahi and Ghazal Nahani. We call for the immediate overturning of these sentences and an end to the prosecution of women artists for singing and performing.
Iranian authorities must end the discriminatory ban on women’s solo singing and cease using morality and security-related charges to punish women who exercise their rights to freedom of expression, artistic creation, and participation in cultural life.