Iranian author arrested after anti-regime interview, sentenced to death: Report

Iranian author and illustrator Mehdi Bahman has been sentenced to death amid massive protests in the country. The death sentence followed his interview with an Israeli television channel.

Iranian authorities arrested him soon after the interview in which he criticised the regime in Tehran, imposition of Islamic laws in the country, and called for peace between Israel and Iran.

This comes as Iran has already awarded death sentences to 11 protesters and has detained more than a hundred amid the protests that have been going on for more than three months.

In his works, Mehdi Bahman has often talked about religious co-existence. He has also worked with Shia cleric Masoumi Tehrani for years to create artworks from various religions. Masoumi Tehrani has also been arrested, it was reported.

The longest running protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s controversial morality police. Mahsa Amini was detained for not wearing her hijab properly which breached the strict dress code in the country for women.

Meanwhile, a member of Iran’s security forces was shot dead during protests in the city of Semirom, Iranian state media IRNA reported.

“A Basij member was killed in the city of Semirom by armed criminals,” reported IRNA, referring to the paramilitary force linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.