Iran’s Supreme Court has sentenced popular Iranian pop singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, commonly referred to by his stage name Tataloo, to death after finding him guilty of blasphemy, including insulting the Prophet Mohammed. This was after the court reversed an initial five-year prison sentence, after a prosecutor’s protest that resulted in the case being reviewed in January.
Tataloo’s legal fight has garnered international attention and outrage, with activists arguing that the ruling infringes on freedom of speech and artistic freedom. He had also previously served prison time for encouraging material that authorities alleged broke Islamic morals.
Who Is Tataloo?
Tataloo was born in Tehran, Iran, on September 21, 1987. Due to his family’s economic hardship, he began working as a carpenter at the age of 14 while still pursuing his studies. He also worked at a supermarket while in high school. After finishing his studies, he chose to pursue his interest in music.
He issued his debut single in 2003, marking the beginning of his career as an underground artist. In 2014, he went viral by singing the national song Manam Yeki az un Yazdahtam (I’m Also One of Those Eleven Players) for the Iranian National Football Team during the FIFA World Cup.
Nationalist Songs and Political Controversies
Tataloo again fanned national controversy in 2015 when he published the pro-nuclear song “Energy Hastei”, shot aboard the Iranian naval vessel Damavand. The song was trending on Persian-language Google searches during Vienna’s Iran/5+1 nuclear negotiations. Yet it provoked criticism from Iranian reformists, who unfavorably compared his patriotic lyrics to Mohammadreza Shajarian, a cultural hero who backed the 2009 Iranian uprisings.
Arrests, Exile, and a Career Abroad
Tataloo was arrested in 2016 by authorities for the promotion of an un-Islamic lifestyle. Upon his departure from Iran, he settled in Turkey in 2018 and continued making music and holding concerts. His comments in 2020 in support of marriage under the age of 16 generated new controversy.
Tataloo launched his debut album Zire Hamkaf in 2021 and has since released 21 albums, achieving major international acclaim. He was the first Iranian artist to partner with Universal Music Group.
Extradition and Escalating Charges
In 2023, Turkish officials transferred Tataloo to Iran, where courts convicted him of encouraging prostitution and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. In January 2024, a court convicted him on charges of blasphemy, and in May, Iran’s Supreme Court sentenced him to death.
Rights organizations have denounced the verdict as a serious assault on freedom of expression and urged foreign intervention to stop his execution.
