Famed singer returns to Iran after decades of exile

Mohsen Namjoo's homecoming is show of wartime patriotism

PARIS:

A prominent singer has returned to Iran after nearly two decades in exile, as authorities encourage artists living abroad to return home in a show of patriotism against the backdrop of the conflict with the United States.

Mohsen Namjoo, 50, whose work mixes Persian traditional music with more modern styles and had been living in the United States, flew into Tehran late last week, with his arrival welcomed by official media.

But his return ran into immediate controversy after a video said to be from his wife was posted criticising his move, prompting the singer to publish a swift rebuttal.

In her video published by Prague-based Radio Farda, Namjoo's wife was quoted as saying that she had been completely unaware of his decision to return and the singer had effectively been missing for several days.

Namjoo responded in a video published by the ISNA news agency on Sunday that while he had made the decision to return "a few months ago", he had kept the move under wraps.

He hailed the "utmost kindness" he had encountered since his return and responded to criticism by saying "I have come to see my homeland and my family".

The official IRNA news agency on Friday praised his "patriotic positions" in opposing the US-Israeli strikes during the war that caused widespread infrastructure damage and civilian casualties.

Namjoo, who had previously backed protest movements against the authorities, had left Iran in 2007 and in 2009 was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison on charges of insulting Islam.

Culture Minister Abbas Salehi has said Tehran wants to remove obstacles impeding foreign-based Iranian artists from returning.

In June, the pop singer Binesh Bolour, known as Gheysar, performed to crowds in a Tehran square on his return to the country after some four decades living in Los Angeles.

This is despite rights activists accusing the authorities of heavy censorship and of holding foreign nationals in jail in a bid to extract concessions from the West.

"Journalists, students, artists and civil-society figures inside Iran continue to face restrictions," said the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a US-based group pushing for greater engagement between Iran and the United States.

"For a new relationship, welcoming statements will not be enough," it said, commenting on Namjoo's return.

In 2020, a series of anonymous allegations concerning sexual assault were made against Namjoo, though he has denied the accusations and was never charged.

Media said he maintained he was the victim of an "unauthorised release" of his work on the Internet and planned to sue those who posted it.