An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced tattooed pop star Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death for blasphemy. The 37-year-old singer has been in detention in Iran since December 2023 after being extradited from Turkey.
Multiple Iranian media sources, including the Iranian newspapers Etemad and Jame Jam, reported on Sunday that Tataloo was sentenced to death by Iran’s Supreme Court after being found guilty of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Etemad reported that Tataloo was serving a five-year jail term for various offenses, including blasphemy, but his case was reopened at the request of the prosecutor. He received a death sentence on retrial.
The report noted that the verdict was not final and Tataloo could still appeal. Iranian judiciary officials also said on Sunday that a final verdict on the case had not yet been issued.
The musician, known for blending rap, pop, and R&B styles, previously faced a 10-year sentence for promoting “prostitution” and was charged with anti-regime propaganda and publishing “obscene content.”
Tataloo has not always been at odds with the Iranian regime. In 2015, he released a song supporting Iran’s nuclear program, which fell apart after the Trump government later withdrew from the deal. In 2017 Tataloo held a televised meeting with the ultra-conservative Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who later died in a helicopter crash. Before his extradition, Tataloo had been living in Istanbul since 2018.
The case comes against a backdrop of increasing persecution in Iran, including judicial executions. The UN reported some 901 executions in 2024 – the highest number in nine years. The uncertainty surrounding Tataloo’s verdict coincided with a shooting at Iran’s Supreme Court in Tehran on Saturday that resulted in the deaths of two judges who specialized in national security cases.
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