Iranian singer Googoosh has said she is “waiting for a change of regime to happen soon”, as the country faces renewed nationwide protests over economic hardship and political repression.
“I am living day and night with a mix of anxiety and hope,” the veteran pop icon said in an interview with The Times published on Friday.
“Waiting for a change of regime to happen soon. The people are being brutally suppressed. The killing has not stopped. The situation can no longer wait.”
The current unrest in Iran began on 28 December 2025, initially driven by deepening economic hardship, including soaring inflation, a sharp fall in the value of the rial, and rising food prices. They quickly turned political with protesters demanding an end to clerical rule.
At least 65 people have been killed in clashes with the police, according to rights groups, and Iranian authorities have also cut off internet access and international telephone communications.
Googoosh, born Faegheh Atashin, was one of Iran’s most famous singers and actresses before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After the overthrow of the shah – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi – women were banned from singing publicly and popular music was heavily restricted.
“What happened to me is the reason I want to be a voice for young people now,” she said. “They said singing was sinful and music was banned. They condemned Googoosh to a lifetime of silence, so I tried to bury her.”
The 75-year-old pop icon described being summoned for interrogation, accused of being a corrupting western influence, and repeatedly questioned about why she had sung certain songs or performed for particular people. She was imprisoned for a month in Tehran’s Evin prison alongside other women, from actresses to doctors, and spent weeks singing quietly to fellow inmates so guards would not hear.
“I thought they would kill me,” she said. “I saw how many other women were arrested and executed. I don’t know why they didn’t.”
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She was released but forced to sign a declaration pledging never again to sing, perform, or attend social or political gatherings, and was placed under effective house arrest.
In 2000, she was able to leave the country and perform in Canada, where she discovered that the decades of enforced silence had not erased her influence. She performed to a sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 people, her first public performance since the age of 29.
However, this meant she could never return home. After appearing on American television without a headscarf, she was warned that it “would be better for you to stay away”. She has since lived in several cities before settling in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran.
“This was a better life in every way,” she said. “I have all the things that they took from me. I will sing for the people who are still in Iran. I will sing for them here.”
She recently announced that she would no longer perform in public until “my people get their freedom”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned on Saturday that safeguarding security was a “red line” and the military vowed to protect public property, as the clerical establishment stepped up efforts to quell the most widespread protests in years.
The statements came after US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran’s leaders on Friday, and after Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday declared: “The United States supports the brave people of Iran.” Authorities accuse the US and Israel of fomenting “the riots”. Rights groups have documented dozens of deaths of protesters.
