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Iranian writer is sentenced to 12 years after tweeting a dot at supreme leader

Hossein Shanbehzadeh has been sentenced after replying with a period in response to a post on the social platform X by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hossein Shanbehzadeh, a longtime critic of Iran’s leadership, was active on social media, supporting political prisoners and the removal of mandatory headscarves for women. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, he told his family he wasn’t sure why he was arrested, but it came shortly after he posted the response to Khamenei’s tweet, which showed the Iranian leader with the country’s national volleyball team. His lawyer, Amir Raisian, told Shargh Network, a reformist newspaper in Iran, that he would appeal the verdict, especially the accusation of pro-Israel activity.

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