Iran's Judiciary on Sunday dismissed a report by state-run media that it had sentenced Amirhossein Maghsoudloo, a famous and controversial singer better known as Amir Tataloo, to death on charges of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.
The report about Tataloo's death sentence was first published by Jame Jam newspaper, which is affiliated with Iran's state broadcaster.
However, the Judiciary's media office dismissed the report, saying the final verdict for Tataloo has not yet been issued.
"He has recently become eligible for leniency under legal provisions. Leniency provisions, or legal reprieves, are measures outlined in criminal law to assist convicts in line with the restorative justice approach," the Judiciary said.
The blasphemy charge had been overturned and referred to a parallel court after the prosecutor objected to the verdict issued by the Ninth Branch of the Criminal Court.
The 37-year-old underground musician, once a vocal supporter of the Islamic Republic who had been living in Istanbul since 2018, was extradited back to Iran by Turkish authorities in December 2023 and has since been held in detention.
Last year, he was handed multiple prison sentences after trials starting in March 2024 accused him of several offenses including promoting "prostitution," disseminating "propaganda" against the Islamic Republic, and other broadly defined charges of "obscene content."
Known for his distinctive tattoos and his fusion of rap, pop and R&B, Tataloo had previously found favor with conservative politicians looking to engage Iran’s young, progressive audience.
In 2017, he even participated in a televised meeting with the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, who later become Iran's president before being killed in a helicopter crash in 2024.
In a notable moment in 2015, as the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers was unraveling, Tataloo released a song in support of Iran's nuclear program.
