Arts, culture have carried Iran’s ‘message of innocence’
IIran's culture minister said artistic outreach has conveyed to the international community the innocence and suffering of the Iranian people in the brutal US-Israeli war on the country.
Abbas Salehi spoke of the ministry’s efforts to ensure the voice of Iranians reaches people around the world.
“Our cultural attachés in 60 to 70 countries have been in contact with various institutions and are working toward that goal,” he added.
Salehi pointed out that in the past 40 days, people in cities around the world have shown their heartfelt support. “We are seeing that the voice of the Iranian people is being heard through these cultural consultations,” he said.
In recent days, several well-known Iranian singers and musicians have voluntarily stood alongside ordinary people at sites that the United States and Israel had announced as potential future targets, aiming to draw global attention to the criminal nature of those threats, some of which were later carried out.
Ali Zand Vakili, a star of Iranian pop‑traditional fusion music, performed a piece about “the homeland” on railway tracks in response to the threats. The performance came just hours after reports emerged that some bridges and railway routes, including major national lines, had been damaged following attacks by the United States and Israel.
He also wrote: “Threatening our civilization, culture, and sites that are thousands of years old is no longer about belief, taste, viewpoint, religion, or personal choice. This threat is about the destruction of Iran and the Iranian people…”
After the threat by US President Donald Trump to bomb Iran’s infrastructure in violation of international law, several other singers also responded by symbolically appearing on bridges and at power plant sites across the country.
Ali Ghamsari, an internationally known composer and virtuoso tar player, went to the Damavand power plant, Tehran’s main power supplier, with his instrument and voluntarily placed himself as a human shield for the facility.
Later, addressing the Iranian people, Ghamsari wrote: “The God of Damavand is with you. I am well. I have done something I believe in.”
Iranian pop star Benyamin Bahadori also recited poetry by Hafez on the Tabiat Bridge.
The attacks have prompted numerous reactions from Iranian artists. Many shared statements and images expressing condemnation of the enemy, sympathy with their fellow citizens, and declarations of patriotism.
Some artists also produced works defending the homeland and addressing the global community, while cultural institutions and centers organized programs aimed at promoting national solidarity.
The attacks, in addition to damaging several cultural and artistic centers, have also damaged or destroyed the homes of some artists.