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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Joss Stone 'detained and deported' from Iran | |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| The British singer Joss Stone says she has been deported from Iran, claiming the authorities believed she would play an unsanctioned concert in the country, where there are strict restrictions on female musicians performing in public. | |
| In a video posted on Instagram, the 32-year-old said: “We got detained and then we got deported,” while dressed in a white headscarf, adding that she was on a “blacklist” and that the authorities “don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show” on what would have been the final leg of her world tour. | |
| “After long discussions with the most friendly, charming and welcoming immigration people, the decision was made to detain us for the night and to deport us in the morning,” she said. “Of course I was gutted. So close yet so far.” | |
| The singer added that she was aware “there couldn’t be a public concert as I am a woman” and that she wasn’t “trying to change the politics of the countries I visit” or “put other people in danger” | |
| So , our very last country on the list was Iran . We were aware there couldn’t be a public concert as I am a woman and that is illegal in this country. Personally I don’t fancy going to an Iranian prison nor am I trying to change the politics of the countries I visit nor do I wish to put other people in danger. However, it seems the authority’s don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show so they have popped us on what they call the ‘black list ‘ as we found out when we turned up to the immigration hall. After long discussions with the most friendly charming and welcoming immigration people the decision was made to detain us for the night and to deport us in the morning. Of course I was gutted. So close yet so far, this moment broke a little piece of my heart. Then I realised the silver lining was bright. I told them my story and explained my mission, to bring good feeling with what I have to give and show those who want to look, the positives of our globe. All with the understanding that public performance wasn’t an option in this scenario. I still have to walk forward towards that goal some way some how. And of course music is my driver. Doesn’t mean we have to brake any laws though. There is music everywhere. Even here, we just have to play by there rules and they have to believe we will. It’s a trust thing. They were so kind to us, at one point I started to question it. The question whirled around my head, were they just luring is into a false sense of security so we would walk into our jail cells quietly with out a drama? Nope , these people are genuinely nice kind people that felt bad that they couldn’t over ride the system. They didn’t speak English so well so the translator Mohamed, who clearly had a lovely soul conveyed the message that they hoped we would go to embassy to sort it all out and come back, they were refusing us entry with a heavy heart and were so sorry. After Mo had left, the officers kept telling us sorry. They said sorry all the way through this process and kept saying this till we got on the plane they were sending us away on. We were the ones that should have been apologising for not having our correct paper work. The ball | So , our very last country on the list was Iran . We were aware there couldn’t be a public concert as I am a woman and that is illegal in this country. Personally I don’t fancy going to an Iranian prison nor am I trying to change the politics of the countries I visit nor do I wish to put other people in danger. However, it seems the authority’s don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show so they have popped us on what they call the ‘black list ‘ as we found out when we turned up to the immigration hall. After long discussions with the most friendly charming and welcoming immigration people the decision was made to detain us for the night and to deport us in the morning. Of course I was gutted. So close yet so far, this moment broke a little piece of my heart. Then I realised the silver lining was bright. I told them my story and explained my mission, to bring good feeling with what I have to give and show those who want to look, the positives of our globe. All with the understanding that public performance wasn’t an option in this scenario. I still have to walk forward towards that goal some way some how. And of course music is my driver. Doesn’t mean we have to brake any laws though. There is music everywhere. Even here, we just have to play by there rules and they have to believe we will. It’s a trust thing. They were so kind to us, at one point I started to question it. The question whirled around my head, were they just luring is into a false sense of security so we would walk into our jail cells quietly with out a drama? Nope , these people are genuinely nice kind people that felt bad that they couldn’t over ride the system. They didn’t speak English so well so the translator Mohamed, who clearly had a lovely soul conveyed the message that they hoped we would go to embassy to sort it all out and come back, they were refusing us entry with a heavy heart and were so sorry. After Mo had left, the officers kept telling us sorry. They said sorry all the way through this process and kept saying this till we got on the plane they were sending us away on. We were the ones that should have been apologising for not having our correct paper work. The ball |
| A post shared by Joss Stone (@jossstone) on Jul 3, 2019 at 4:50am PDT | A post shared by Joss Stone (@jossstone) on Jul 3, 2019 at 4:50am PDT |
| Stone’s Total World Tour, which started in Morocco in March 2014, has taken the singer to countries including Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Belize and Jordan. The purpose of the tour, according to Stone’s website, is to “bring loveliness in a form of music to every country on our planet”. Stone’s tour has also included charity work in Lebanon, Syria and Mauritius, where she supported Mo’zar Atelier Musique, a group that helps children access music lessons. | |
| The Iranian regime’s stance on music being performed in the country has thawed slightly since the revolution. All forms of music were banned immediately after the regime took control in 1979, but in the late 90s some restrictions were lifted under reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who allowed western classical music to be taught at Tehran University and permitted concerts where women could sing in front of other women. | |
| In 2005, then Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad banned western music from state radio and TV stations, saying the decision was meant to block “indecent and western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting”. | |
| Women singing by themselves continues to be a taboo in Iran, with some exceptions being permitted for opera, but some have managed to circumvent the restrictions by “co-singing”, where they perform with others. | |
| Leila Alikarami, a human rights lawyer who has represented female musicians in Iran, said there were hopes that when Hassan Rouhani took control in 2013 there would be a more liberal approach to female musicians performing live in the country. | |
| “Human rights are still seen as a threat to national security by the regime,” she said. “We were hopeful of changes with Rouhani but it hasn’t happened. This is deep rooted culturally and in the judiciary.” | |
| Iran has strict controls on public concerts and any gig needs to be approved by the ministry of culture, which requires promoters and artists to complete forms stating the location of the event, number of attendees and several other details. In Alikarami’s experience the ministry can take anywhere from two months to a year to reply to requests and she has known of concerts – which have been approved previously – to be cancelled with little notice. | |
| Alikarami believes Stone should have been allowed to visit the country as she “clearly stated her intention was not to play”, but added that the situation in Iran is far worse for Iranian women who want to perform in their own country, saying the regime is “attacking the identity of Muslim women”. | |
| “It’s heartbreaking because these people have passion for music; it’s not about making money it’s about performing in public and being heard,” she said. | |
| Mohammed Shabani, a PhD Researcher at SOAS University of London and an expert in Iranian issues, said that for Stone the situation, however inconvenient in the short term, is a net positive for her. “I’m sure Joss Stone and her team made a calculation: they go to Iran and there will be one of two outcomes, both of which are good for her,” he said. | |
| “A: You go, play a concert and are arrested and get publicity. B: You get detained and deported and make lots of headlines. It’s a win-win. For the regime, they probably didn’t want to take the chance that she would perform and create a scene.” | |
| Representatives for Stone and the Iranian embassy did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. | |
| Iranian groups continue to push back against the strict rules, including Radio Khiaban, a site which hosts recordings of Iranian women singing in public in order to show “inspiring everyday performances and acts of resistance of women who are forced to segregation and exclusion”. | |
| Alikarami points out that women in Iran have faced discrimination when trying to perform for decades. “Women have been repressed by a patriarchal system before the regime in 1979,” she said. “It’s not always religion, sometimes it’s tradition.” | |
| Stone first rose to prominence as an unlikely 14-year-old pop prodigy from rural Devon, signing with EMI before releasing her debut album The Soul Sessions, which would mark her out as “a blonde, blue-eyed soul sensation” after selling 12 million copies and being nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2004. | |
| Deported artists | |
| Dusty SpringfieldThe English pop star refused to play to segregated audiences in 1964 and was duly deported from South Africa for her anti-apartheid stand. Along with Gil Scott-Heron, her defiance was one of the few early shows of support from western acts. | |
| Hanns EislerDubbed the “Karl Marx of music” by the House Un-American Activities Committee, the German composer’s work had already been banned by the Nazis before he fled to the US and was eventually deported for being a communist in 1948, returning to Germany where he settled and wrote the national anthem for the GDR. | |
| 21 SavageBorn in Newham, east London, 21 Savage (real name Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) was arrested in early 2019 and threatened with deportation from the US for overstaying his visa because of a – disputed – historic drug offence. The case is still pending. | |
| Paul McCartneyThe Beatle was deported from Japan in 1980 when he tried to bring a half-pound of marijuana into the country. The singer spent nine days in jail before returning home and deciding to break up Wings, who were supposed to tour Japan before his arrest. | |
| Slick RickSlick Rick is another UK-born hip-hop star who was facing deportation from the US after an attempted murder in 1991. The rapper with the famous eyepatch, was finally granted US citizenship in 2016 after a 23-year legal battle to avoid leaving the US. | |
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