Be careful dancing in Iran: an Iranian
dancer who left Iran 22 years ago and has been living in
Los Angeles has just been given a 10-year suspended prison
sentence in Iran on charges of corrupting the nation's
youth. Mohammed Khordadian had been making a living
giving lessons in Iranian traditional dance and performing
for the large Iranian community in California.
He returned to Iran after learning that
his mother had died and spent a couple of months visiting
relatives and friends but was arrested at the airport when
he tried to leave. Some of his performances were
beamed into Iran by TV stations run by Iranian exiles and
his videos also found their way onto the domestic Iranian
market. After several months in jail he has finally
been released, following sentence by a Tehran court.
In addition to the suspended jail sentence, he was banned
from leaving the country for 10 years, banned from
attending weddings for three years, except for those of
close relations, and banned from giving dance lessons ever
again.
Although many Iranians dance at private
parties, especially weddings, the ruling clerical
establishment frowns on such behaviour, especially when it
involves the mingling of the sexes. For unmarried people,
even to appear in public together is a punishable offence,
though it is only sporadically enforced, although there are
reports of alarm from young people in Tehran who have
noticed the recent appearance on the streets of a tough new
police unit, equipped with smart black four-wheeled drive
vehicles.