Iran sentences man to death over social media posts, lawyer and rights groups say

Advocates say authorities arrested Amirhossein Mousavi in 2024 after learning he was behind critical X and Instagram accounts, tortured him into confessing he worked for Israel

By AFP 5 November 2026, 10:17 pm
Illustrative: Portraits of slain Iranians are displayed in an area of Esplanades des Invalides in Paris on July 8, 2025, as part of a campaign by French human rights activists to stop executions in the Islamic Republic. (Delphine TOUITOU / AFP)

PARIS, France — Iran’s judiciary has sentenced to death a man held in detention for almost two years over his posts on X and other social media, his lawyer and several rights groups said.

The death sentence against Amirhossein Mousavi comes as concerns grow over the surging use of the death penalty against defendants seen by rights groups as political prisoners after nationwide protests in January and the Middle East war.

Mousavi posted on X and on Instagram under accounts named James Bi Din (meaning ״James without faith״ in Persian), or James B. Dean, which have since been suspended.

He was sentenced to death after being convicted of the capital charge of “Corruption on Earth” in connection with “online activity on the Twitter account ‘James B. Dean,'” his lawyer Reza Shafakhah wrote on X.

Mousavi’s account on X was known as @james_bidin and was run anonymously. But authorities ascertained that Mousavi was behind it, and he was arrested at a Tehran airport in December 2024 while leaving for the Iranian Gulf island of Kish.

Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said the conviction was over his “online dissent” against the authorities.

The sentence was also confirmed by US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which said the trial has been presided over by judge Abolghasem Salavati, who is notorious for handing out execution verdicts.

IHR said that following the arrest of Mousavi, 40, he had been shown in October 2025 on Iranian state television making confessions in a segment that accused him of acting as an Israeli agent to incite protests during nationwide demonstrations in 2022.

Rights activists accuse authorities of subjecting detainees to torture to extract forced confessions that are later broadcast on TV. IHR said Mousavi had later retracted the comments broadcast on television.

“His torture-tainted confessions were aired by state media prior to the commencement of legal proceedings,” it said.

Iran has executed 36 men over the January 2026 protests. Since the war broke out with the US and Israel, it has also executed another two men over the protests in 2022.

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