ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran's Supreme Court has upheld a 10-year prison sentence against a Tehran bazaar merchant arrested during the January anti-government protests after he allegedly filmed and shared a video of a protester sitting in front of security forces, his lawyer and human rights said Monday.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), citing the pro-reform Emtedad news outlet, reported that Branch 9 of Iran's Supreme Court upheld the sentence against Masoud Piahoo. The sentence was previously issued by Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under the country's law on increasing punishment for charges of espionage and cooperation with Israel.
Piahoo was detained following protests in Tehran's Grand Bazaar during the nationwide demonstrations that erupted in January.
The ruling comes amid an intensifying crackdown by Iranian authorities on people arrested during the January anti-government protests. Human rights groups say thousands of demonstrators were killed and more than 20,000 people were detained in the ensuing security campaign.
His lawyer, Hassan Aghakhani, said Sunday that his client was arrested for recording a video during the protest.
"This citizen was arrested during the Tehran Bazaar protests, prior to the events of January 8 and 9," Aghakhani said, as cited by HRANA.
According to Aghakhani, Piahoo filmed a short video from his workplace overlooking Jomhouri Street in Tehran and shared it only with a limited audience through his private Instagram story.
"An individual sat down in front of law enforcement officers, and Masoud [Piahoo] instinctively recorded a short video of that scene," he said, adding that another individual had taken the video from his social media “and distributed it."
"Subsequently, the Ministry of Intelligence summoned my client. He turned himself in to the judicial authorities, but unfortunately, he was arrested," the lawyer said.
In a video purportedly of Piahoo prior to his arrest, he said “tomorrow I will turn myself in for the execution of the ten-year prison sentence they have given me.”
“I have never denied that I filmed that video on that date… but I had absolutely no role in the editing, distribution, or broadcasting of that video, and I never had any intention for that video to be spread,” he added.
His lawyer said the court disregarded his client's argument that he had no intention of widely distributing the footage and imposed a lengthy prison sentence.
He added that a request for judicial review has been submitted, but the case has already been referred to the sentence enforcement branch and Piahoo has been jailed to serve his sentence.
Rights organizations have accused Iranian authorities of bringing politically motivated charges against detainees, including allegations of cooperation with Israel and the United States. They also say security forces routinely use torture and other forms of ill-treatment to extract self-incriminating confessions later used in court proceedings.he
Amnesty International said Thursday that Iranian authorities have "weaponised the death penalty to repress dissent," warning that officials have called for expedited prosecutions of people detained since the January protests.
According to HRANA, Iran carried out 2,063 executions in 2025, the highest annual total recorded in more than three decades. Human rights groups have expressed concern that additional protesters and political prisoners could face severe sentences, including execution, as authorities continue their post-protest crackdown.
Arrests have also increased since the April ceasefire that ended weeks of conflict between Iran, the US, and Israel. Authorities have accused thousands of detainees of providing photos and videos of sensitive sites struck during the six-week aerial bombing campaign to foreign adversaries.