An Iranian court upheld a one-year prison sentence for acclaimed director Jafar Panahi

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court has upheld the one-year prison sentence imposed on renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, rejecting his appeal against a conviction linked to charges of propaganda activities against the Iranian state.

An Iranian court rejected Jafar Panahi’s appeal and upheld a one-year prison sentence

The decision represents the latest development in long-running legal and political challenges facing the award-winning director, whose work has earned him international acclaim and has often come under scrutiny from Iranian authorities.

According to reports from Tehran, Panahi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, announced during a press briefing on Sunday that the court had rejected the filmmaker’s appeal against the verdict handed down in December. Panahi was sentenced in absentia after being found guilty on charges of engaging in propaganda activities against the state.

Legal avenues remain open to the director. Nili said the decision could now be appealed to the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeal within 20 days. As a result, the latest court decision does not mean that Panahi will be jailed immediately.

The decision comes just months after Panahi returned to Iran at the end of March following an international tour promoting his latest film, It Was Just an Accident. The production reached the nomination stage as France’s official submission in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards, further cementing the director’s reputation on the world cinema scene.

Panahi is widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary Iranian filmmakers. Throughout his career, he has gained international recognition for works such as “The Circle”, “Offside”, “This is Not a Film”, “Taxi” and “No Bears”. His films often explored social issues and individual freedoms, themes that occasionally brought him into conflict with the authorities.