Iranian children are dancing to pop music and the government is furious

By Rick Noack May 22 at 8:30 AM

As the United States and Iran traded threats these past weeks and inched closer to the brink of a military confrontation, Iranian hard-liners have identified a new “political plot” by an “enemy” who is “trying different ways to create anxiety among the people,” Education Minister Mohammad Bathaei warned.

Bathaei was not speaking about the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group or a bomber task force being deployed to the region earlier in May, however.

Instead, he was referring to video clips of Iranian schoolchildren, apparently recorded in multiple schools, dancing to music by Iranian pop singer Sasy Mankan.

Mankan’s “dance challenge” for fans — centered on his “Gentleman” song — appears to have raised suspicions among Iran’s ultraconservatives of a U.S.-linked cultural attack. Iranian state media outlets reported that an investigation was launched earlier this month.

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