TEHRAN -- The concert Mohammadreza Shajarian was scheduled to perform tonight will probably be cancelled.

Shajarian was scheduled to give six performances of a concert entitled “Sadi, Master of Words” at Tehran’s National Grand Hall this week. However, the police told National Grand Hall officials to prevent the concert series’ technicians from entering the concert hall on Saturday, House of Music Director Hamidreza Nurbakhsh told the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on Sunday. He emphasized that the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance had issued a permit for the concerts, and the law was duly observed in all of the arrangements for the concerts. Nurbakhsh called the police’s action irresponsible. All 19,000 tickets for the six Shajarian concerts sold out almost immediately, and over 3000 people have tickets for the first concert, which is scheduled to take place tonight. The Ava band of musicians Majid Derakhshani, Mohammad Firuzi, Saeid Farajpuri, Homayun Shajarian, and Hossein Rezaiinia is to be Shajarian’s backup band for the concerts that are scheduled to be held on July 30 and 31, and August 2, 3, 5, and 6