Aged 37, singer and composer Tatalou was one of the pioneers of rap in Iran, where he began his career in the early 2000s. He moved to Istanbul in 2018 after not obtaining a musical activity license from Iranian authorities. In December 2024, justice announced that the artist had been handed over to Iran by Turkey on the order of a revolutionary court in Tehran.
His trial opened in March 2024, notably on the grounds of “encouraging the younger generation to prostitution”, “making propaganda against” the Islamic Republic and “disseminating obscene content in the form of clips and songs”.
“The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor’s appeal” against a previous five-year prison sentence, and “this time the accused was sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet (Mohammed),” the newspaper reported on Sunday reformist “Etemad” on its website. The judgment is not final and may be subject to a new appeal, added the same source.
Before his departure for Turkey, Amir Tatalou was arrested several times, notably in 2016 for having “disturbed public opinion”. Tattooed from head to toe, the rapper sparked controversy in 2017 when he met ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raïssi, who died in a helicopter accident in May 2024. In 2015, he wrote a song to support the nuclear program Iranian during the conclusion of the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the international community.
