Acclaimed Iranian writer and director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to prison. The filmmaker is best known internationally for his 2025 political thriller It Was Just an Accident.
According to Panahi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili, Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court has sentenced the filmmaker to five years and one month of discretionary imprisonment and ordered the confiscation of all his movable and immovable assets. Additional penalties include a two-year ban on social media activity and a two-year prohibition on leaving the country. The exact charges against Panahi remain unclear.
Nili explained that he learned of the new case after Panahi’s bank accounts were suddenly frozen last week. When he visited the Sentence Enforcement Office of the Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office, he learned that the verdict had been issued in absentia.
Nili also noted that the case file stated that Panahi was outside Iran, although he had returned to the country on March 30, 2026.
The new sentence comes separately from an earlier one-year prison term
This isn’t the first time Panahi has clashed with Iranian authorities. Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court had previously sentenced the director to one year in prison, a two-year travel ban, and a prohibition on membership in political and social groups or organizations on charges of “propaganda against the regime.” The Court rejected his request for a retrial in June 2026 and upheld the original verdict.
In 2010, Panahi was banned from making movies, speaking to the press, and traveling. However, he continued making films until the ban was lifted in 2023. Iranian authorities had previously arrested Panahi in 2022 in connection with protests by a group of filmmakers. He was released seven months later.
A seminal filmmaker of the Iranian New Wave, Panahi has received multiple accolades over the years. His debut feature The White Balloon won the Caméra d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for It Was Just an Accident.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
