The 59-year-old arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to examine the possibility of holding a series of concerts this autumn for Iranians, who are among his most faithful fans. "I can't tell you what a great pleasure it is to be here. This has been my dream since I was a little boy," the clearly delighted singer told a conference packed with domestic and foreign journalists in the Iranian capital. De Burgh has been invited by the Taraneh Sharghi music production company, whose leading pop band, Arian, has recorded a song called "The Words I Love You" with de Burgh in a mix of English and Persian. Arian in 1999 was the first Iranian pop band after the revolution to receive a permit to perform in public. All recordings and concerts in Iran require a permit from the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance to be legal. De Burgh said he was aware of the restrictions imposed on performing arts in Iran but insisted that he was determined to play concerts to "make a difference". "I am not politically naive and I don't believe everything I read in the media," he said, adding that friends and family had raised eyebrows at his plans of visiting Iran and tried to talk him out of it. "I say to them what are you doing to make a difference?" he said, insisting he was there for ordinary people "just as I went to Lebanon after the civil war" between 1975 to 1990. "I do not want to make snap judgements. I know some things are forbidden, like alcohol, but I don't have a problem with that," he said, charming the audience by greeting them in Persian. Taraneh Sharghi manager Mohsen Rajabpour expressed hope that the concerts, including at least one in Tehran, would go ahead in October or November this year, saying he had already obtained permission orally. Western pop music has been frowned upon by Iranian cultural officials who apply tough vetting on music, films and books. No Western pop singers have been allowed to perform in Iran since the Islamic revolution. The former reformist government tentatively approved the distribution of a few Western performers' albums, including de Burgh, the Gypsy Kings and Queen. But there has been a tougher screening of culture since the conservative government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, vowing to revive Iran's anti-Western revolutionary ideals. Despite restrictions there is a vibrant underground musical culture in Iran, with dozens of singers and bands using computers to record songs -- loaded with social criticism at times -- and releasing them on the net and contraband CDs. But Arian tread in safer waters and have shied away from controversy with four albums of mellow and innocent love songs -- not entirely unlike de Burgh's own output. "The Words I Love You" opens with de Burgh singing: "There are those who think that love comes with a lifetime guarantee / But we know from those around us that this may not always be." The 11-member band, which includes three female backing-vocalists, has played hundreds of concerts in Iran, Europe, the United Arab Emirates and Canada to packed halls of fans. De Burgh's appeal among Iranians goes back to just after the revolution in 1980 when a Tehran music store named Alighapoo put his hit "Sailor" on a compilation tape, reminisced Parham, a 44-year-old Iranian music enthusiast. "De Burgh has a romantic undertone that works well with the Iranian psyche," he said, adding that notions of heaven and hell and God and Devil in "Don't Pay the Ferryman" and the "Spanish Train" also go down well with Iranians.

• published: 30 May 2008
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