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Joss Stone denied entry to Iran as total world tour reaches completion
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 5 July 2019
Joss Stone has revealed that she has been denied entry into Iran, which is particularly annoying because she is reaching the end of a five year project in which she aims to perform music in every country, collaborating with local music-makers as she goes.
She posted to Instagram from Kish Island, off the southern coast of Iran, saying that officials there weren’t convinced that she was only planning a private performance in the country, and therefore they asked her to leave.
“We were aware there couldn’t be a public concert as I am a woman and that is illegal in this country”, she wrote. “However, it seems the authorities don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show so they have popped us on what they call the ‘black list’, as we found out when we turned up to the immigration hall”.
“After long discussions with the most friendly charming and welcoming immigration people”, she went on, “the decision was made to detain us for the night and to deport us in the morning. Of course I was gutted. So close yet so far, this moment broke a little piece of my heart”.
But, she stressed several times, officials at the Kish Island airport were incredibly apologetic and encouraged her to visit the Iranian embassy back in the UK to “sort it all out”, so she could return to the country to complete her ‘sing everywhere’ mission.
A police statement cited by Iran’s state broadcaster confirmed that Stone had been denied entry to the country because she didn’t have the required paperwork.
There have been increased political tensions between some Western countries and Iran of late of course, principally the US, but also the UK. Though Stone’s world trip has already taken in plenty of other places where the political situation is tricky and, in some cases, military conflict is ongoing. That includes recent visits to both Yemen and Libya.
This is all being documented on a special website and the aforementioned Instagram.
