Iran:
More than thirty concerts cancelled

Iran is experiencing a cultural clampdown, reports Iran Press Service. In three months, from September to November 2005, Iran’s Ministry of Culture has cancelled more than thirty concerts in the country

The ministry has also announced the cancellation of the Fajr Music Festival on the grounds that it would overlap with the period of Moharram, the mourning ceremonies for the Shi’ite third imam, but after seeing the extent of public dissatisfaction and its negative impact on Ahmadi Nezhad’s image, the ministry allowed the festival to take place at a later date. The rescheduled festival will differ from recent years, though, focusing on religious music.

After a period of some tolerance under former president Mohammad Khatami, Iran's new hard line Muslim president Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad wants western culture off from Iran, writes journalist and political analyst, Mr. Mehdi Khalaji for Iran Press Service.
Khalaji writes that the president is implementing the hardest of hardline ideological tendencies in the cultural arena, consistent with his belief that his administration should prepare the country for the reappearance of the “hidden imam” (who is now more than a thousand years old). As such, the gap between young people and the government is growing wider and deeper, reports Khalaji.