Iran's Revolutionary Court sentences filmmaker Jafar Panahi to prison, seizure of assets

As of 12:55 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026

Iran's Revolutionary Court has sentenced award-winning film director Jafar Panahi to five years in prison and the seizure of all his assets, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing Iran's semi-official Nournews, which quoted his lawyer. The report did not say what charges he faced.

The court also barred Panahi from leaving the country for two years and from any social media activity, Reuters reported. Panahi's lawyer, Mostafa Nili, could not be immediately reached for comment, according to Reuters.

Nili said the sentence was five years and one month and was issued in absentia by Branch 26 of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, the film trade publication Screen reported. Nili said Panahi's bank accounts were frozen last week and that inquiries then revealed a new sentence had been handed down without Panahi being notified of the hearing, according to Screen.

According to Nili, court documents claimed Panahi was abroad and unreachable, even though he returned to Iran on March 30, Screen reported.

Background

Panahi's film "It Was Just an Accident" won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes film festival, and he has been arrested several times in the past for his filmmaking, Reuters reported. He returned to Iran in March despite having been sentenced in absentia in 2025 to one year in prison for propaganda activities against the system, according to Reuters.

In 2010, Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking and international travel; he spent seven months in Tehran's Evin Prison after being arrested in July 2022 to serve that sentence, Screen reported.