Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has received a prison sentence of five years and one month, adding to the legal troubles he has faced for years while continuing to make films despite restrictions imposed by the authorities.
According to AP, a Tehran court also ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable assets, his lawyer, Mostafa Nili, told the reformist news outlet Emtedad in an interview late Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
The latest charges against Panahi have not been disclosed. However, the director had previously been convicted of “propaganda activities against the system”. The latest sentence was handed down on Monday, according to Hossein Razzagh, a friend of the filmmaker and an Iranian activist based in Europe.
Razzagh told the AP that he spoke to Panahi on Monday evening after the sentencing and that the director had not been detained at that time. The sentence can be appealed, but Razzagh said Panahi’s bank accounts had been frozen.
Panahi returned to Iran in March, after the United States and Israel began attacks on the country. He has repeatedly criticised Iran’s leadership and condemned violence against anti-government protesters in interviews with foreign media.
One of Iran’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers, Panahi has faced imprisonment, travel restrictions and house arrest over the past two decades. Despite these challenges, he has continued to make films.
He secretly filmed ‘It Was Just an Accident’ in Iran after spending seven months in prison. He was released in 2023 following a hunger strike.
The film later won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, further cementing his international reputation.
