Iranian Actor Sadeghi Handed Five-Year Prison Term

An Iranian court has sentenced Mohammad Sadeghi, an actor who has openly supported nationwide protests that rocked the country last year, to five years in prison.

In a video posted on his Instagram page on December 10, Sadeghi said that Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court had sentenced him on charges of "inciting people to war and against national security."

The actor was arrested in July following the publication of several Instagram stories in which he criticized the enforcement of compulsory headscarf laws. 

Videos shared on social media depicted security agents entering his home and arresting him as he attempted to escape from a balcony.

The Tehran Public Prosecutor's Office for Moral Security had previously accused Sadeghi of "promoting violence and obscenity against those responsible for upholding order and public security."