Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that music is incompatible with the Iranian revolution, and hence he is not available to dj at weddings, baptisms or bar mitzvahs. Shame.

In response to a question from a student, the “supreme leader” commented: “Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”

Which makes now probably as good a time as any to tell you that the next issue of Index on Censorship magazine will focus on censorship of music and musicians.

From Iran, we’ve got an article on the Tehran indie scene by Negar Shaghaghi of Take It Easy, Hospital (stars of No One Knows About Persian Cats), and an interview with electro-rock singer Maral Afsharian.

In the meantime, if the Ayatollah doesn’t like music, I’d imagine he hates this:

Different Ayatollah, but still…