Iran sentences activist to death over posts on X, says lawyer

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 say.

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 Instagram under accounts named James Bi Din (meaning James without faith in Persian) and 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 writes on X.

His account on X was known as @james_bidin and 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.