Iran court to hear case against director Panahi after return

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TEHRAN: An Iranian court is scheduled to hear a new case against internationally acclaimed director Jafar Panahi following his recent return to the country.

The Tehran Revolutionary Court will preside over the trial next month, where Panahi faces fresh accusations of spreading ‘propaganda against the state’. The legal proceedings target the 65-year-old filmmaker's continued artistic defiance and public criticisms of the Islamic Republic's restrictive policies. Panahi, who has won prestigious awards at major European film festivals, was previously banned from filmmaking and forbidden from leaving Iran for over two decades due to his political activism.

The high-profile trial marks an immediate escalation in Iran's systematic crackdown on cultural dissidents and independent voices. Legal experts note that his return from temporary exile abroad instantly put him in the crosshairs of judicial authorities.

If convicted under the strict national security statutes, the director faces potential imprisonment, reinforcing the government's severe intolerance toward political opposition within the arts.