Credit : Variety's X
TEHRAN, October 27, 2026 – Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner behind “It Was Just an Accident,” has been sentenced in absentia by a Tehran Revolutionary Court to five years and one month in prison, in a new ruling that comes on top of a one-year sentence he was already facing, according to his lawyer.
The ruling was first reported by the Emtedad News Agency, an online Iranian reformist outlet, and was picked up by Variety, which shared the news on its X account and website.
Panahi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, told Emtedad that the new verdict is separate from the earlier one-year prison sentence, and that the court has also ordered the confiscation of Panahi’s assets. In addition, the director has been handed a two-year ban on using social media and a two-year travel ban. Nili said implementation of both rulings is discretionary. It remains unclear what charges Panahi faces in this latest case.
Bank Accounts Frozen Before Verdict Came to Light
According to Nili, Panahi’s bank accounts were suddenly frozen last week. The lawyer said he then went with his client to the prosecutor’s office in Tehran, where they learned that the verdict had already been issued in absentia.
The lawyer said the case file stated that Panahi was living outside Iran. However, the director had returned to Iran on March 30, 2026, shortly after the ceremony for the 98th Academy Awards, where “It Was Just an Accident” reached the nomination stage as France’s candidate in the Best International Feature Film category, Variety reported.
A Long History of Clashes With Authorities
Panahi has had frequent run-ins with the Iranian authorities over the past two decades. In 2010, the acclaimed director, known for prize-winning films such as “The Circle,” “Offside,” “This Is Not a Film,” “Taxi” and “No Bears,” was banned from making movies, speaking to the press and travelling. He continued to make films in secret despite the ban.
In 2022, Panahi was arrested in connection with protests by a group of filmmakers and was released about seven months later. The ban was lifted in April 2023, and Iranian authorities later allowed him to travel to Cannes to launch “It Was Just an Accident.”
The drama follows a group of former prisoners and the strong emotions they unleash on a man they believe was their torturous guard. The story draws on Panahi’s own experience of incarceration. The film won the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Panahi travelled widely afterwards to promote it.
“I Am the Kind of Person Who Needs to Be in His Country”
Despite already facing a one-year prison sentence at home and a climate of escalating tension that made his return risky, Panahi chose to go back to Iran.
“I am the kind of person who needs to be in his country,” Panahi told Variety. “I need to breathe there and work there. And even if they want to go ahead with that prison sentence, they can go ahead. Nothing will change my mind about going back.”
The new sentence is likely to draw strong reaction from the international film community, which has repeatedly rallied behind Panahi during his previous legal battles. His work has earned top honours at the world’s major festivals, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for “Taxi” in 2015.
As of now, there has been no public statement from Iranian judicial authorities on the new ruling, and it is not yet known whether either sentence will be enforced.
Source: Variety
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