Cultural Censorship in Iran
72
musicians it perceives to be ‘subversive.’ In 2008 the songs from Morgh-e Khoshkhan (lit. ‘sweet singing bird’) were performed in the concert hall of the interior ministry to an audience of 3,000 people with government approval. Despite its previous public appearance, ILNA News Agency reported in March 2011 that the album, which was sent off to the Ministry of Culture in 2009 with an application for a permit to produce and distribute, had still not received any feedback. Shajarian’s manager Mohammad Ali Rafiyee said that before the 2009 elections it would take about two months for a Shajarian album to get production and distribution permissions, whereas they have now been waiting for more than a year to distribute this album.117 Rafiyee said that the delays being imposed by the government have meant they have decided to investigate the possibilities of distributing the album outside Iran instead and at the time of writing the album has still not been released. It seems as though Shajarian is being punished for distancing himself from the conservative authorities through a letter he wrote to the Ezzatollah Zarghami, the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, on June 17th, 2009. In the letter he wrote, “Your excellency knows that the songs of mine that you repeatedly broadcast have been performed for the Iran of 1979 and 1980. There is no connection between the songs and the present situation … according to Sharia and the law of Iran, it is obligatory that IRIB stop broadcasting my songs and other works immediately.”118 117. ILNA, "Shajarian is Still Waiting for Permission to Distribute His Album," Iranian Labour News Agency, March 8, 2011, http://www.ilna.ir/newstext. aspx?ID=184098. 118. Mehr, "Shajarian Asks IRIB to Stop Airing His Works," Mehr News Agency, June 17, 2009, http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail. aspx?NewsID=898474.