Hossein Zaman is a professional singer who, since 2002, has been banned from working. Shortly after his work ban was issued, his songs were also banned from being broadcast by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Network. Zaman has not yet been summoned to court nor has he faced any legal proceedings.

Zaman began his political activism at the age of 16, distributing leaflets and writing articles in opposition to the ruling Pahlavi government.

He later studied electronic engineering at the Isfahan University of Technology, but after two semesters of study, he was arrested by SAVAK (the security apparatus of the Pahlavi government) and expelled from the university. He then went to the United States to continue his education and lived there until the beginning of Iran's 1980-1988 war with Iraq.

Hossein Zaman returned to Iran in 1980 to continue his studies, graduating with a Master's degree in telecommunications engineering. He began his music and singing career in the mid-1990s and released several pop music albums.

Due to his political affiliation with the reformist movement in Iran and the “Islamic Iran Participation Front,” the main reformist party in Iranian politics, Zaman has struggled to receive permission to hold or perform at concerts in Iran since 2002 and has effectively been serving a work ban throughout this period. 

In an interview with the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on July 17, 2017, Zaman was asked when exactly he had been told he could no longer perform.

Zaman replied: “I was never officially informed about a ban on my performances, but I held my last concert in 2001. Since 2002, whenever I tried to hold a concert, they blocked me. In other words and in practice, they didn’t give me permission to hold a concert, or they disrupted my performances, or they prevented ticket sales, or they completely stopped me from entering the concert hall. For several years, my performances were stopped in this way without any interference or intervention from legal authorities.”

Zaman continued to discuss the strong opposition that he faced concerning his concerts, saying: “For example, when I was going to fly to Abadan for my concert, I was contacted by the Provincial Security Council [of Khuzestan] and told not to go to Abadan, as it would no longer be possible to hold my concert under any circumstances. I asked ‘Why?’ And they said that an order had been given…”

Zaman also said: “It went on like this for several years, until towards the end of Mr. Ahmadinejad's Presidency, I went back to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to see if they could do something for me or if anyone would even answer me at all. However, the only thing they told me was that they had been ordered from above not to give permission. When I asked “Which legal authority was ‘this above’?” they didn’t tell me anything. After Mr. Ahmadinejad left and Mr. Rouhani took office, I went to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance during his first term in office, and I was given the same answer as before.”

In an interview with EnsafNews on November 20, 2017, Hossein Zaman said that his music had also been banned from being broadcast on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting [IRIB] Network by Ali Larijani, the then Director of IRIB. Zaman said: “Mr Larijani wrote me an official letter which said that none of the radio or television channels [of IRIB] would be allowed to broadcast any of my work or music. With my own eyes, I saw this letter which informed me that none of my work would be allowed to be broadcast. Mr. Larijani should be asked what is the reason for this? I don't understand.”

In response to a question about whether he had ever been summoned by judicial officials or the security services, Zaman responded: “No, throughout the whole time that my music has been banned, I was never summoned. However, I was threatened. Once or twice I was contacted and asked me, ‘Why is the work and music that you make being broadcast on illegal satellite television channels or on social media? You have no permission to do that.’ There have been some threats like that but I didn’t pay attention to them.” Zaman also later added that these threats were all made by one anonymous person over the phone.

Eventually, in October 2018, after 16 years of having his music banned, Hossein Zaman received a license from the Music Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance which allowed him to publish three tracks from his new album. 

On July 25, 2019, Zaman was allowed to perform in two concerts at the Milad Tower Conference Center in Tehran. The concert, which was called “I’m Coming Back to You Again,” included Hossein Zaman and more that 30 other musicians.

Hossein Zaman has released a number of music albums to date, including; “Night of Nostalgia,” “Night Story,” “Shaparak,” “Love Exercise,” “Untold Story” and “Love Affair.”