Report: Iran arrests 5 members of underground band for alleged contact with dissident channels
TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian police have arrested five members of an underground band suspected of producing music for Farsi-speaking, dissident satellite channels based in the U.S.
The semiofficial Fars news agency quotes senior police official Col. Sadeq Rezadoost as saying the band was producing songs for Los Angeles-based Iranian singers and providing videos to Farsi-speaking, dissident TV channels.
The Wednesday report says the five have been handed over to the judiciary for trial. It did not name the band.
Women-only groups are banned in Iran, and Western music is rejected as "decadent." Many Iranians turn to underground bands to get bootleg videos of foreign-based singers.
Contact with foreign-based dissident media outfits is also banned in Iran.
