THIS is the empowering moment Iranian female rappers defy their authoritarian government by performing in the street without headscarves.
Gen-Z are increasingly posing an existential threat to the country’s 46-year autocracy by breaking strict rules that their parents were forced to accept.
Musicians like Eli are openly performing in public as authorities struggle to regain the iron grip they once had on the youth.
The age of smartphones and a world beyond state media has opened the eyes of young Iranians to freedom of expression.
Now Zoomers are flouting rules prohibiting dancing, co-habiting, dating and rapping, and young women are doing away with the mandatory hijab.
The tyrannical Islamic Republic has banned most forms of dance since Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1979 coup.
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Current supreme leader Khamenei has claimed that women dancing in front of strangers is prohibited because it “incites lust”, and these rulings have effectively removed it from Iranian culture until now.
A Tehran high-school teacher spoke to The Telegraph about how the incoming generation is “remarkably different” to their parents and “worthy of study”.
“Unlike our generation, which was often frustrated by such laws but eventually conformed, they actively ignore them,” they added.
But this wilful disobedience has consequences in Iran.
Several rappers and activists have been arrested, intimidated and publicly humiliated.
Popular Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, was sentenced to death for supporting anti-regime protests through his songs.
The 33-year-old was arrested in 2022 after publicly backing the wave of demonstrations triggered by the killing in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was beaten to death for wearing an “improper” hijab.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2023, which was later upgraded to a death sentence after further bogus charges were presented.
Fortunately, thanks in part to The Sun’s exclusive coverage of Coldplay’s intervention, Salehi was spared by Iran’s regime.
Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence against Mr Salehi, on the basis that it was “contrary to Iranian law and excessive.”
Mr Salehi’s cousin, Arezou Eghbali Babadi said: “The international community’s solidarity and support have played a crucial role in the release of Toomaj Salehi.
“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed in any way to this outcome.”
Rapper Abbas Daghagheleh, known to fans as Rashash, was arrested in an October 10 sting this year.
His songs criticised the discrimination and poverty he experienced in the Khuzestan province, and spoke of young activists who vanished.
His arrest came after a social media post about six Arab political prisoners who had been executed.
Three others – Meshki, Ardalan and Sajjad Shahi – were forced to apologise to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on state television, half-naked and sporting shaved heads.
Their imagined “crime” was reportedly “publishing unconventional content and controversial works on social media”.
A young Iranian, Amin*, told DW that the regime have lost face and that widespread public opposition will bring it down in the years to come.
He said: “What you hear most is pure despair – especially among the youth.
“The lack of any clear future or opportunity for growth hits them the hardest, and their frustration is more visible.
“You often hear people so desperate, they start to see war or even death as a kind of escape.
“The regime’s dominant narrative – that foreign threats would unify the people – has already lost credibility.
“In the next war, that illusion will crumble even further.”
Another, Nazanin, told The Telegraph: “Their policies make me sick. Why shouldn’t I be able to live alone or with my partner?
“We are being suppressed by our families at home and by the regime outside.”
She added: “None of them understands what we want, but most of my generation doesn’t care – we do what makes us happy, and that’s why they [the regime] don’t like us.”