The British singer Joss Stone says she has been deported from Iran, claiming the authorities believed she would play an unsanctioned concert in the country, where there are strict restrictions on female musicians performing in public.

In a video posted on Instagram, the 32-year-old said: “We got detained and then we got deported,” while dressed in a white headscarf, adding that she was on a “blacklist” and that the authorities “don’t believe we wouldn’t be playing a public show” on what would have been the final leg of her world tour.

“After long discussions with the most friendly, charming and welcoming immigration people, the decision was made to detain us for the night and to deport us in the morning,” she said. “Of course I was gutted. So close yet so far.”

The singer added that she was aware “there couldn’t be a public concert as I am a woman” and that she wasn’t “trying to change the politics of the countries I visit” or “put other people in danger”.

Stone’s Total World Tour, which started in Morocco in March 2014, has taken the singer to countries including Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Belize and Jordan. The purpose of the tour, according to Stone’s website, is to “bring loveliness in a form of music to every country on our planet”. Stone’s tour has also included charity work in Lebanon, Syria and Mauritius, where she supported Mo’zar Atelier Musique, a group that helps children access music lessons.

On Thursday night an Iranian diplomatic source said: “The issue has [been] assessed very carefully by Iranian local authorities. It seems that she and the team have entered [the] Iranian island of Kish probably based on wrong advice about visa regulations for the island.

“While Kish is considered a free zone, without visa regulation for tourists, engaging in any economic activity more than tourism needs previous consideration and a request for working visas via official channels, which the group unfortunately missed. Local authorities have advised the group about this mistake and visa regulations for any future visit.”

The Iranian regime’s stance on music being performed in the country has thawed slightly since the revolution. All forms of music were banned immediately after the regime took control in 1979, but in the late 90s some restrictions were lifted under reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who allowed western classical music to be taught at Tehran University and permitted concerts where women could sing in front of other women.

In 2005, then Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad banned western music from state radio and TV stations, saying the decision was meant to block “indecent and western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting”.

Women singing by themselves continues to be a taboo in Iran, with some exceptions being permitted for opera, but some have managed to circumvent the restrictions by “co-singing”, where they perform with others.

Leila Alikarami, a human rights lawyer who has represented female musicians in Iran, said there were hopes that when Hassan Rouhani took control in 2013 there would be a more liberal approach to female musicians performing live in the country.

“Human rights are still seen as a threat to national security by the regime,” she said. “We were hopeful of changes with Rouhani but it hasn’t happened. This is deep rooted culturally and in the judiciary.”

Iran has strict controls on public concerts and any gig needs to be approved by the ministry of culture, which requires promoters and artists to complete forms stating the location of the event, number of attendees and several other details. In Alikarami’s experience the ministry can take anywhere from two months to a year to reply to requests and she has known of concerts – which have been approved previously – to be cancelled with little notice.

Alikarami believes Stone should have been allowed to visit the country as she “clearly stated her intention was not to play”, but added that the situation in Iran is far worse for Iranian women who want to perform in their own country, saying the regime is “attacking the identity of Muslim women”.

“It’s heartbreaking because these people have passion for music; it’s not about making money it’s about performing in public and being heard,” she said.

Mohammed Shabani, a PhD Researcher at SOAS University of London and an expert in Iranian issues, said that for Stone the situation, however inconvenient in the short term, is a net positive for her. “I’m sure Joss Stone and her team made a calculation: they go to Iran and there will be one of two outcomes, both of which are good for her,” he said.

“A: You go, play a concert and are arrested and get publicity. B: You get detained and deported and make lots of headlines. It’s a win-win. For the regime, they probably didn’t want to take the chance that she would perform and create a scene.”

Representatives for Stone and the Iranian embassy did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

Iranian groups continue to push back against the strict rules, including Radio Khiaban, a site which hosts recordings of Iranian women singing in public in order to show “inspiring everyday performances and acts of resistance of women who are forced to segregation and exclusion”.

Alikarami points out that women in Iran have faced discrimination when trying to perform for decades. “Women have been repressed by a patriarchal system before the regime in 1979,” she said. “It’s not always religion, sometimes it’s tradition.”

Stone first rose to prominence as an unlikely 14-year-old pop prodigy from rural Devon, signing with EMI before releasing her debut album The Soul Sessions, which would mark her out as “a blonde, blue-eyed soul sensation” after selling 12 million copies and being nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2004.

Deported artists

Dusty Springfield

The English pop star refused to play to segregated audiences in 1964 and was duly deported from South Africa for her anti-apartheid stand. Along with Gil Scott-Heron, her defiance was one of the few early shows of support from western acts.

Hanns Eisler

Dubbed the “Karl Marx of music” by the House Un-American Activities Committee, the German composer’s work had already been banned by the Nazis before he fled to the US and was eventually deported for being a communist in 1948, returning to Germany where he settled and wrote the national anthem for the GDR.

21 Savage

Born in Newham, east London, 21 Savage (real name Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) was arrested in early 2019 and threatened with deportation from the US for overstaying his visa because of a – disputed – historic drug offence. The case is still pending.

Paul McCartney

The Beatle was deported from Japan in 1980 when he tried to bring a half-pound of marijuana into the country. The singer spent nine days in jail before returning home and deciding to break up Wings, who were supposed to tour Japan before his arrest.

Slick Rick

Slick Rick is another UK-born hip-hop star who was facing deportation from the US after an attempted murder in 1991. The rapper with the famous eyepatch, was finally granted US citizenship in 2016 after a 23-year legal battle to avoid leaving the US.