Flogging, or lashing, is strictly prohibited under intenrational human rights laws. That did not stop Iranian authorities from carrying out the brutal punishment against Mehdi Yarrahi, the Iranian musician, who in 2023 released the song Roosarito – and was consequently arrested for “acting unlawfully.”
We covered Yarrahi’s arrest back in 2023 and we are deeply saddened to learn about the punishment which was carried out last Wednesday, 5 March 2025.
Yarrahi originally released “Roosarito” (Farsi for “your headscarf”) on the one-year anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” human rights movement in Iran.
Yarrahi commented on the punishment on his X profile, saying, “I am ready to receive the sentence of 74 lashes, and while I condemn this inhuman torture, I make no request to cancel it.”
News of the torturous punishment has caused outrage by many, such as like Novel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi who called it “a whip on the proud, resistant women of Iran.”
While this hopefully, and soon, concludes the harrasment and oppression Yarrahi has had to endure, other Iranian artists are still imprisoned for their music, like Shervin Hajipour, and others are either in hiding, have disappeared or worse.
