--- title: Iran Bans Famous Conductor For Israeli Citizenship description: Daniel Barenboim was going to conduct a concert in Tehran but has been barred for security reasons because he's an Israeli citizen canonical: https://time.com/4018426/daniel-barenboim-iran-israel/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-01T12:27:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:36:11.469Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Iran Bans Famous Conductor For Israeli Citizenship og:description: Daniel Barenboim was going to conduct a concert in Tehran but has been barred for security reasons because he's an Israeli citizen og:url: https://time.com/4018426/daniel-barenboim-iran-israel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a8d668ba7d2aa06/698861c80a4a2290f19c5e2a/daniel-barenboim.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 09: Conductor Daniel Barenboim performs at Brandenburg Gate during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Wall on November 9, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The city of Berlin is is commemorating the 25th anniversary of og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Iran Bans Famous Conductor For Israeli Citizenship twitter:description: Daniel Barenboim was going to conduct a concert in Tehran but has been barred for security reasons because he's an Israeli citizen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a8d668ba7d2aa06/698861c80a4a2290f19c5e2a/daniel-barenboim.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Iran Bans Famous Conductor For Israeli Citizenship  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 1, 2015 12:27 PM UTC  Conductor Daniel Barenboim performs at Brandenburg Gate during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Wall in Berlin, on November 9, 2014. Conductor Daniel Barenboim performs at Brandenburg Gate during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Wall in Berlin, on November 9, 2014.Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 1, 2015 12:27 PM UTC Iran won’t let Daniel Barenboim, the music director of the Berlin State Opera House, enter the country because he holds Israeli citizenship. Barenboim was supposed to conduct a concert in Tehran, [the _Agence France Presse_ reports](http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/sep/01/iran-bars-daniel-barenboim-israeli-citizenship?CMP=twt%5Fb-gdnnews), but he has been barred for security reasons. “We have no problem with the German orchestra coming to Iran, but we are opposed to the person leading that group,” Iranian culture ministry spokesman Hossein Noushabadi said. “He has multiple nationalities and one of them is Israeli. For security reasons and to prevent issues following the entry of certain people into Iran, we stopped it.” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he supported Barenboim’s plan to conduct in Iran because of his “dedication to making music accessible to all people, irrespective of national, religious or ethnic boundaries.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4018426/daniel-barenboim-iran-israel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4018426/daniel-barenboim-iran-israel/"},"headline":"Iran Bans Famous Conductor For Israeli Citizenship","datePublished":"2015-09-01T12:27:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:36:11.469Z","description":"Daniel Barenboim was going to conduct a concert in Tehran but has been barred for security reasons because he's an Israeli citizen","url":"https://time.com/4018426/daniel-barenboim-iran-israel/","keywords":["Iran","Music","Israel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a8d668ba7d2aa06/698861c80a4a2290f19c5e2a/daniel-barenboim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a8d668ba7d2aa06/698861c80a4a2290f19c5e2a/daniel-barenboim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 09: Conductor Daniel Barenboim performs at Brandenburg Gate during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of Wall on November 9, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. 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