Iran bans Western music

Iran -- the land of, among other things, Holocaust denial, an emerging nuclear program, and the rather overrated Abbas Kiarostami -- has taken an unfortunate step to cut itself off further from the West. The BBC reports:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western and "indecent" music from state-run TV and radio stations.

The ban follows a ruling in October by the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, which he heads, to ban Western songs from the airwaves.

"Blocking indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is required," a statement from the council said.

Specifically, various reports have cited music by Eric Clapton ("Rush"), The Eagles ("Hotel California"), Wham! ("Careless Whisper"), and Kenny G.

Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour: "This is terrible." Quite so.

Although one wonders if too much Kenny G has contributed to all that virulent anti-Americanism. If so, can you blame them?