

Visitors to Iran's Kish Island. (AP)

Are Iran’s mullahs fans of Yanni’s jazzy stylings?

The next months may tell. Iran’s gatekeeper for the media and arts, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, has cleared the way for the Greek-born composer and musician to become one of the rare Western performers to land a gig in the Islamic Republic.

According to a BBC report, the concert could take place in the "coming months."

That still gives time for hard-liners to possibly pressure the ruling clerics to call it off. It’s happened before. A planned 2008 performance by British-Irish singer Chris de Burgh (best known for the easy-listening staple "Lady in Red") was canceled after permission was pulled without explanation. The cancellation was widely attributed to opposition from hard-liners.

Yanni has some important factors in his favor, however.

In October, the Grammy-winning Japanese musician Kitaro held a well-received concert in Tehran. A month earlier, a troupe of Chicago-based puppeteers received a standing ovation after a show in the Iranian capital. An American flag even was hoisted over the entrance of the City Theater.

The Ministry of Culture, meanwhile, appears to be pushing back harder against ultra-conservatives since the election of reform-leaning President Hassan Rouhani in 2012.

The ministry’s chief, Pirouz Arjomand, publicly railed on state-run media to denounce a mob that disrupted a May concert by local musician Vahid Taj.

And Yanni is scheduled to play in a place that’s sort of Iran lite: the Persian Gulf island of Kish.

The island is Iran’s version of cutting loose: Western-style resorts, dive shops, nightly live music (still, male-only singers) and relaxed rules on Islamic coverings that allow women to get by with minimal head scarves, short-sleeve shirts and bare legs. Iran’s morality minders, known as the Basij, are kept well in check.



Kish Island is Iran's version of fun and sun. (Economist)

It’s certainly not Dubai, just across the Gulf. But Kish is not without its moments. It’s a favorite of Iranian honeymooners. International travelers can check Iran off their list by getting visas on arrival in Kish or -- for Americans and some other Westerners -- an expedited process via tourist companies.

Hosting the globetrotting Yanni, whose concert venues have included the Acropolis and Taj Mahal, also may be a way for Kish to promote its dreams of opening an international music school.

There’s one potential glitch. The U.S.-based Yanni could be drawn into a Kish mystery that remains one of the countless disputes between the United States and Iran. In March 2007, a retired FBI agent, Robert Levinson, was last seen on Kish during a trip the State Department described as “private business.” An Associated Press investigation later said Levinson was working for the CIA. Iran claims to have no idea of Levinson’s whereabouts.