Arya Aramnejad is an Iranian singer, songwriter and composer who released a number of protest and political songs following the widespread protests over the contested 2009 presidential election.

In 2009, Aramnejad released a song entitled “Ali Barkhiz," in which he denounced the Islamic Republic’s repression of the 2009 protests. He was subsequently arrested by agents from the Babol division of the Ministry of Intelligence, on February 15, 2010 and charged in court with “committing actions against national security.”

Arya Aramnejad was forced to spend approximately two months in solitary confinement in Mati Kola Prison in Babol, after which he was released on bail. In July 2011, Aramnejad released another song entitled “Deltangi" ("Depression”) in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a contender in the contested election and of the main leaders of the Green Movement, the protests that arose after the election. The song led to Aramnejad's second arrest on November 8, 2011.

He was released after a few days. But later that month, Aramnejad was sentenced to six months imprisonment in court. The sentence was reduced to three months imprisonment following an appeal.

Aramnejad reported to Babol Prison in February 2012 in order to serve the three month prison sentence against him. He was released in April 2012.

FreeMuse, an international non-governmental organization advocating for freedom of artistic expression and an important organization for musicians around the world, launched a campaign in March 2013 in support of Aramnejad. The organization wrote an open letter addressed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in which they called for Arya Aramnejad’s immediate and unconditional release. A number of international artistic figures, including the prominent Bahraini writer Farid Ramadan, the South African singer-songwriter Roger Lucey, and the renowned Egyptian singer Rami Assam spoke out in support of Aramnejad, protesting against his continued detention by posting a video on YouTube entitled “We Stand with Arya.”

Aramnejad has released a number of prominent songs, such as “Another 100 Years,” “Shadow-Killing Sparks,” “Noon of Ashura” and “To Touch Freedom.” In 2017, Aramnejad traveled to Sweden at the invitation of the International Pen Association and subsequently remained in the country.

After his three separate arrests in Iran, Aramnejad was “banned from [artistic] activity” by the security services and was not allowed to release music. But after emigrating to Sweden, in early 2020, he released the song “We’re Lost” in memory of the victims of Ukrainian Airlines FLight 752 which was shot down by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Air Defence on January 8, 2020.  

In an interview with the Zaytoun website in February 2020, Aramnejad said: “Although I am happy that the Iranian government’s restrictions could not control and suppress my thoughts, it definitely had a massive impact on my job situation [as a musician] and it stopped me from wasting several years of my life as I was finally forced to emigrate [from Iran]."