HRANA – The prison sentence of Masoud Payahu, one of those arrested during the nationwide protests of January 2026, has been fully upheld by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court. He had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison by Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

According to HRANA, citing Emtedad, Masoud Payahu, a detainee from the January protests, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

According to the report, Branch 9 of the Supreme Court upheld Mr. Peyahu’s conviction in its entirety. He had previously been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court under the Law on Intensifying Punishments for Espionage and Cooperation with Israel.

Hassan Aghakhani, Masoud Payahu’s attorney, stated that his client was arrested during protests in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, prior to the events of January 8 and 9.

He added: “My client was working in a marketplace overlooking Jomhouri Street. At one point, an individual sat down in front of law enforcement officers, and Masoud unconsciously recorded a short video of the scene. He had absolutely no intention of publicly sharing the footage and, in fact, only posted it to a private Instagram story. Another person subsequently obtained and published the video. The Ministry of Intelligence then summoned my client. He voluntarily presented himself to the judicial authorities, but was unfortunately arrested.”

According to the attorney, Branch 23 of the Revolutionary Court disregarded Mr. Payahu’s defense that he had no intention of widely disseminating the video and nevertheless imposed a lengthy prison sentence.

The report further states that a request for judicial review has been filed on behalf of Masoud Payahu. Hassan Aghakhani noted that the case has been forwarded to the sentence enforcement branch and that his client is required to report to prison.

Masoud Payahu was among those arrested during the nationwide protests in Tehran in January 2026.