Iran President bans Western music

[© tweed]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4543720.stm


Iran president bans Western music
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad's ruling will affect artists like George Michael
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western and "indecent" music from state-run TV and radio stations.

The ban follows a ruling in October by the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, which he heads, to ban Western songs from the airwaves.

"Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required," a statement from the council said.

Songs by artists such as Eric Clapton and George Michael will be affected.

'Lack of knowledge'

Songs such as Clapton's Rush, Michael's Careless Whisper and The Eagles' Hotel California are often used as background music on Iranian TV programmes.

Songs by American easy-listening artist Kenny G are also often featured.

"This is terrible," said Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour, a musician whose songs featured on state TV and radio. "The decision shows a lack of knowledge and experience."

Mr Ahmadinejad became president this year promising to reverse a recent series of reforms and return Iran to the ultra-conservative atmosphere of the 1979 revolution.

"Supervision of content from films, TV series and their voice-overs is emphasized in order to support spiritual cinema and to eliminate trite and violence," the council said on its website in reference to the October ruling.

Mr Ahmadinejad's programme has included sacking more moderate members of the government and replacing them with ex-military commanders and politically inexperienced religious leaders.

In recent weeks he launched an outspoken attack on Israel, calling for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".

He also claimed the Nazi Holocaust, which killed six million Jews, was a "myth".

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How much actual power does the Iranian 'president' have?  Is he just a puppet for Khomeni?

[2952-0-0]

And so it begins...

[phk]

Actually, Ayatollah Khomeini banned all music early on in the Islamic Revolution.

Unfortunate many of the good things that Khatami did are being overturned, but who could expect from such an authoritarian bastard like Ahmadinejad.

If only those Iranians in Los Angeles weren't jerks with thier crappy sattelite programming, things would surely be better.

Iran needs its own version of MQM/PPP for sure.

In small they need Benazir Bhutto/Pervez Musharraf-esque folks, which could be found in Faizeh Rafsanjani (reformist daughter of pragmatic conservative President Hashemi Rafsanjani).  But I'd rather the system be overthrown, than work within it; but I'm more of a pragmatist than a idealist.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

How much actual power does the Iranian 'president' have?  Is he just a puppet for Khomeni?

Khomeini is dead. But as for the current Supreme Leader, Khameimi, well he's the Supreme Leader. He's the one with real power. But when the president agrees with him, he's not going to stand in the way.

Iran's government is a lot like a school's. There's a student council, student president, etc. and they all are freely elected. But they don't have much real power, the principal, teachers and all administrators are selected and the students have absolutely no say over it. That's the case with Iran. The real groups that hold power (like the Guardian Council and Council of Experts and all sorts of pretentiously named bodies they have) are the ones that really call the shots, not the elected Parliament or President. The last President, Khatami, was a bit of a reformist, but he got basically nothing done, because the unelected bodies of mullahs tied his hands.

[KillerPollo]

How much actual power does the Iranian 'president' have?  Is he just a puppet for Khomeni?

Khomeini is dead. But as for the current Supreme Leader, Khameimi, well he's the Supreme Leader. He's the one with real power. But when the president agrees with him, he's not going to stand in the way.

Iran's government is a lot like a school's. There's a student council, student president, etc. and they all are freely elected. But they don't have much real power, the principal, teachers and all administrators are selected and the students have absolutely no say over it. That's the case with Iran. The real groups that hold power (like the Guardian Council and Council of Experts and all sorts of pretentiously named bodies they have) are the ones that really call the shots, not the elected Parliament or President. The last President, Khatami, was a bit of a reformist, but he got basically nothing done, because the unelected bodies of mullahs tied his hands.

Oh so you're saying that the governmental divisions are just there for "symbolic" purposes or something?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

How much actual power does the Iranian 'president' have?  Is he just a puppet for Khomeni?

Khomeini is dead. But as for the current Supreme Leader, Khameimi, well he's the Supreme Leader. He's the one with real power. But when the president agrees with him, he's not going to stand in the way.

Iran's government is a lot like a school's. There's a student council, student president, etc. and they all are freely elected. But they don't have much real power, the principal, teachers and all administrators are selected and the students have absolutely no say over it. That's the case with Iran. The real groups that hold power (like the Guardian Council and Council of Experts and all sorts of pretentiously named bodies they have) are the ones that really call the shots, not the elected Parliament or President. The last President, Khatami, was a bit of a reformist, but he got basically nothing done, because the unelected bodies of mullahs tied his hands.

Oh so you're saying that the governmental divisions are just there for "symbolic" purposes or something?

Mostly just so Iran can pretend to have a democratic government.

[dazzleman]

How much actual power does the Iranian 'president' have?  Is he just a puppet for Khomeni?

Khomeini is dead. But as for the current Supreme Leader, Khameimi, well he's the Supreme Leader. He's the one with real power. But when the president agrees with him, he's not going to stand in the way.

Iran's government is a lot like a school's. There's a student council, student president, etc. and they all are freely elected. But they don't have much real power, the principal, teachers and all administrators are selected and the students have absolutely no say over it. That's the case with Iran. The real groups that hold power (like the Guardian Council and Council of Experts and all sorts of pretentiously named bodies they have) are the ones that really call the shots, not the elected Parliament or President. The last President, Khatami, was a bit of a reformist, but he got basically nothing done, because the unelected bodies of mullahs tied his hands.

I completely agree.  That's a very good characterization of the situation in Iran.