Iranian artists who whitewashed the Islamic Republic to return home are now facing calls for their prosecution and arrest from regime state TV. Some musicians and performers made fawning remarks about the Islamic Republic to regain entry into Iran. Many Iranians condemned them as sellouts who helped sanitize a murderous system, possibly for personal or financial gain. Their capitulation bought them nothing. IRIB, the regime’s most powerful propaganda organ, is now demanding that returning artists be tried. This is not a fringe attack. It comes from the institution responsible for broadcasting the Islamic Republic’s official narrative, extracting forced confessions and publicly destroying its opponents. The Islamic Republic has always treated independent culture as a threat. It has censored music, banned performances, arrested artists and pressured public figures into loyalty. Even submission offers no lasting protection because authoritarian systems demand permanent obedience, not temporary praise. These artists sacrificed their credibility among Iranians to appease the regime. Now the same regime may punish them anyway. They betrayed their audience for access and discovered that loyalty to the Islamic Republic is a one-way transaction.