Saturday, 4 April 2026 — InDefence English
In the heart of Tehran, where music once filled the halls of the Honiak Music Academy, there is now only silence, left behind by an American/Israeli airstrike. Not a battlefield. Not a military command post. A music school.
This was the life’s work of Hamidreza Afarideh and Sheida Ebadatdoust, built through years of sacrifice, hope, and devotion. Within its walls, 250 students found more than music. They found identity, belonging, and a sense of peace. The gentle voice of the setar and the bright resonance of the santur carried forward a culture thousands of years old.
And in a single strike, it was all erased.
Americans call such attacks precise, calculated, necessary. They lie, as always. These are indiscriminate strikes against ordinary people that tear apart everything they have built. They take livelihoods, memories, and meaning, and reduce them to ash.
And yet, something remains. Memory. Culture. The quiet determination to rebuild, even when everything has been taken. (https://youtube.com/shorts/hgzwZq7anFw?si=KQzODN_zBplO2cbx)
Cuban soldiers in Cuito Cuanavale. Photo: Cuban Diplomatic Missions
Rokni Haerizadeh (Iran), Typical Iranian Funeral, 2008.
The New Dark Age 