Snapshot from the video for Auschwitz, by Mehdi Yarrahi.
While the US and Israel wage war on Iran, Iranian singer-songwriter Mehdi Yarrahi has released one of his most striking and politically charged works to date. Titled Auschwitz, the song dropped in early 2026 following a crackdown on protesters in Iran, continuing Mehdi’s tradition of using music as a way of speaking out against his own government.
Yarrahi first gained recognition through pop records such as Mano Raha Kon and Emperor, but his artistic trajectory has increasingly shifted toward social critique. Over the years, he has included themes of inequality, environmental decline, and civil rights in his work—actions that have drawn the attention of authorities and led to harsh restrictions on his career.
His support for the labor protests in Khuzestan in 2018, followed by his song Roosarito, released in solidarity with the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, intensified scrutiny against him, culminating in his arrest and sentencing in 2023.
Auschwitz can be seen as a stark continuation of this defiance. The song, which uses the Holocaust as a reference, employs imagery associated with systematic violence and dehumanization, which it uses to comment on current realities. It does not use this reference as a comparison but as a symbol, which challenges the audience to consider the normalization of brutality and the lack of safety in their daily lives.
The lyrics of the song, written by Hossein Shanbehzadeh, provide another form of resistance. Shanbehzadeh himself was sentenced to prison for a seemingly minor offense of online dissent and, in return, earned him the nickname “Dot Prisoner.” The combination of his work with Yarrahi brings together two voices all too familiar with censorship and oppression.
The song feels both like an anthem and a warning—one that refuses to look away from what many are forced to endure. And by releasing this music, Yarrahi once again demonstrates how art can bear witness in times of crisis, even when the personal cost is severe.
Seyðisfjörður bay in Iceland from up the mountains. Photo by Lode Van de Velde, who released the image under Public Domain license CC0 Public Domain.
The fight to preserve Iceland’s pristine wild fjords from industrial-scale salmon farming has gained the support of an unlikely ally, with the legendary Pearl Jam adding their voice to the growing fight against open-net salmon farming, a movement that is slowly gaining traction in the small island nation in the North Atlantic.
For several years, environmental groups and residents around Iceland have raised their concerns about the impact of open-net fish farming on the country’s marine ecosystems, which they claim are being polluted by the farms, causing disease in the country’s fish populations. Several cases of the farmed salmon escaping into the wild have also been documented, which can alter the genetic makeup of the country’s native salmon populations.
While the risk of damage to environments by farmed salmon that escape from fish farms, pollution, and parasites is a major cause of concern, new research also shows that large environmental impacts of farmed salmon in Iceland come not from the fish farms themselves, but from the global supply chain of ingredients used in fish feed.
This is not the first time that Pearl Jam has engaged in activism – the band has long been vocal about climate issues, including environmental activism, and has helped draw attention to issues that would otherwise not have been given much media coverage.
The addition of Pearl Jam’s voice to this list of celebrity supporters of fish farming abolition is likely to bring this movement against fish farming in Iceland into greater focus worldwide. To the activists on the ground, gaining international support is of great importance.
The country’s fjords, considered some of Europe’s last remaining wild marine environments, are now on the frontline of this debate over how we can sustainably produce fish without sacrificing biodiversity.
According to a 2023 research paper, Iceland urgently needs better marine planning to battle both climate change and increased aquaculture. However, the current Marine Spatial Planning system (MSP) in the Westfjords is limited by weak public participation, a lack of transparency, and power imbalances that favor influential actors. To succeed, the system must become more inclusive, transparent, and proactive while addressing broader governance issues related to aquaculture regulation.
Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam. Photo by vazzz – published under a CC BY 2.0 license.
Those who have followed Pearl Jam throughout their career know that they’ve always used their music and their collective voice to help others. And while Icelandic people were perhaps not expecting help to come from this direction, it is definitely greatly appreciated.
On their website, Pearl Jam write:
“We stand with the people of Iceland to end open net salmon farming and protect Iceland’s biodiversity and coastal ecosystems for future generations.
Sign the petition at LetsUndoThis.com to stand with the 63% of Icelanders who oppose sea cages and urge Parliament to strengthen the bill by adding three guardrails:
✔️ Phase out sea cages
✔️ Stop new sea‑cage licenses
✔️ Transition to closed or land‑based systems
Every signature and share helps secure a stronger future for Iceland and wild Atlantic salmon.”
Across the world, protests have witnessed the power of music to become a rallying call and a beacon of hope. Chants turn into songs, and songs turn into anthems, all carrying the emotions of the people who might otherwise not have a platform to express themselves. In the past few years, the Iranian protest movement has seen the emergence of some incredible music that reflects the emotions of the people, including the pain, anger, courage, and hope they have managed to express through their songs.
Man Zendeam Hanooz: A Protest Song from Iran’s Resistance Movement
Among the latest additions to the growing list of songs and music emerging from the Iranian protests is the powerful protest song “Man Zendeam Hanooz” (“I Am Still Alive”) by Iranian composer Adib Ghorbani, with lyrics by Vienna-based, Iranian poet Pooyan Moghaddassi.
This song, released in the early part of 2026 and performed by Iranian music students and a choir, has already begun to circulate on the web and among the supporters of the Iranian pro-democracy movement.
The sound of a movement
To fully comprehend the effect of “Man Zendeam Hanooz,” it is necessary to briefly discuss the cultural context in which this piece emerged. Following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, Iran is facing one of the largest protest movements in its modern history.
As a result of this protest, which featured slogans such as “Woman, Life, Freedom,” the Iranian people challenged their government and expressed their desire for a change in their social and political systems.
In this context, music emerged as a key component of this protest movement. Perhaps the most famous piece of music to emerge from this protest is “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour, a piece of music in which a variety of protest slogans were combined into a set of lyrics.
Man Zendeam Hanooz also emerged in this context, as the lyrics of the song are based on the slogans the Iranian people were sharing on social media in the aftermath of the recent internet shutdown. When people regained access to the internet, they started letting friends and family know: “I am still alive.”
“I am still alive”
“Man Zendeam Hanooz” is a song that is performed in less than two minutes, but its brevity is part of its strength. The title is a powerful phrase, and on the most individual level, it speaks to survival – as thousands of Iranians have faced arrest or worse during the protests. But the phrase is more than that.
It is also a statement that speaks to the collective group as a whole. It is a statement that says even if people as individuals are silenced, they as a whole are still here. They are still alive.
Ghorbani writes on his Soundcloud page: “With the eternal memory of the homeland and dedicated to the noble people of Iran; to the courage that lives and the life and revolution that does not fade away.”
Art under pressure
However, the production of protest music in Iran is not without peril. Artists have been arrested, interrogated, and banned from professional practice. Some artists have opted to produce the protest music anonymously or from exile.
Despite the challenges, protest music is still being produced. This is due to the ease of disseminating the information through the internet, which helps the activists within Iran connect with the Iranian diaspora and the international community.
Thus, the protest music acts as a bridge for the Iranian people, the diaspora, and the international community, which is otherwise divided by the Iranian government’s censorship.
To artists like Ghorbani, the production of such protest music is a statement of intent. It is a statement that the government cannot control art, and that art is a powerful form of protest.
It is precisely because of its simplicity that “Man Zendeam Hanooz” is so compelling. It does not require any complex lyrics or storytelling. It is simply a declaration of existence.
In situations where people are uncertain and afraid, words like these are incredibly empowering. They remind people that resistance is not simply about acts of defiance, but also about determination – the determination to continue speaking, singing, and living, in spite of those who seek to silence them.
Throughout history, protest songs have been a key tool in this kind of resistance. Whether it is civil rights music, anti-war songs, or any other kind of protest music, it gives people a common language to speak in terms of resilience and determination. Ghorbani’s piece is a perfect example of this.
To those outside of Iran, the song “Man Zendeam Hanooz” is a window into the inner workings of the Iranian protest movement. While the headlines tell of conflict, arrests, or political pronouncements, the song represents another level of the protest movement.
Ultimately, the strength of the song is not in the tune itself, but in what the song represents. It represents the fact that in the midst of repression, people continue to make music, to sing, to proclaim their existence.
