A moving song – sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future – has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the early part of 2026, as the country experienced the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and then the US-Israeli airstrike, now in its third week.
However, the singer, called Nava, is a product of artificial intelligence, created by an artist of Iranian origin living in London, Farbod Mehr.
Nava cannot be arrested, unlike Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour, who was jailed after his song Baraye became the unofficial anthem of the 2022 protest movement.
The character represented Iranian women, who cannot sing in public, Mehr said. “I did it for the people and I loved how they reacted,” he said.
“From the blood of youth the tulips have bloomed,” sings Nava. The song, Javanan-e Vatane (Youth of the Fatherland), features lyrics by 20th-century poet Aref Qazvini, whose work called for resistance to authoritarianism and imperialism. It has been viewed 13 million times on Instagram alone.
Nava has released an album full of songs in recent months. But it was a song released in late January, at the height of a brutal crackdown by authorities against protesters in Iran, that resonated the most, first with the bloodshed in the streets, and now even more so with the bombing by the US and Israeli air forces.
In online comments posted about Nava’s songs there was some debate about whether the singer was real, but to others it made no difference.
“People want to see themselves in this character. The brain tries to find a connection with the character,” Mehr said. “It has become the voice of the times we live in.”
He said the combination of a classic Iranian song with a modern French folk tune had hooked Iranians everywhere, with more than 70% of views coming from Iran, despite the internet blackout there.
Mehr, 34, a graduate of London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art, whose visual art combines geometric shapes with Iranian mysticism, moved with his family from Iran to the UK as a teenager. He said he felt hope and sadness as he watched the war from afar.
Nava’s social media persona shows a life far beyond music, as she walks around London and travels to other countries. To further blur the virtual and real worlds, Nava has collaborated with a real-life musician, Iranian singer Mehrad Hidden, and in April will appear on stage as a hologram at concerts in Washington and Toronto, alongside human DJs.
