TEHRAN -- Vocalist Salar Aqili returned to the schedule of the 31st Fajr International Music Festival after the organizers revised their decision to cancel his concert over his interview on the Persian-language entertainment channel Manoto 1 in London.

Salar Aqili will perform with the Vaziri ensemble at the Vahdat Hall on February 11, the director of the festival, Hamidreza Nurbakhsh, announced in a press release on Thursday.

Earlier last week, the Supervising Committee of the festival decided to cancel Aqili’s program at the festival after he appeared on a program on Manoto 1 to speak about his concerts in London.

Iran has previously prohibited interviews with some foreign TV channels, including Manoto 1, which is officially viewed as an enemy of the Islamic Revolution.

“Since he is a popular singer and has had a long career in Persian music, the other officials of the festival and I did our best to return him to the schedule of the festival,” Nurbakhsh said.

“The organizers of the festival believe that artists should not be dealt with in an aggressive manner,” he added.

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