TEHRAN -- The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance called off the concerts of the Muslim multinational band Debu in Tehran without giving any reason for the decision.

The ministry sent a letter, signed by the head of its Music Office Mohammad-Hossein Ahmadi, asking the director of the Iran Gathering Center, Alireza Pashaii, to stop the band from performing.
“According to this letter, the performing license of the Indonesian band Debu, led by Kumayl Mustafa Daood, is revoked,” the letter reads.
The band was informed about the decision while they were preparing for their first performance on July 29 at Tehran’s National Grand Hall, which had scheduled to host the band for four nights.
All the nights’ performances were competently sold out and the concerts have been advertised in several Persian dailies and billboards in Tehran.
Currently based in south Jakarta, Debu is a group of musicians formed in 2001. Most of the band’s members are American, with other members from England, Sweden and Indonesia.
Their music lyrics are about peace, the love of and longing for the Creator, and other Islamic messages. The songs are mainly in Indonesian, but some are also in Arabic, English, Persian, Turkish, Spanish and Chinese languages.
Photo: Members of the Indonesian band Debu rehearse at Tehran’s National Grand Hall on July 29 minutes before their concerts were called off by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. (ISNA/Saman Aqvami)