Iranian Rapper Tataloo Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian court has sentenced popular underground rapper Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on charges of blasphemy, according to local media reports. The decision came after the country’s supreme court overturned his previous five-year prison sentence following an objection by prosecutors.

The reformist newspaper Etemad reported Sunday that the court reopened the case and issued the death penalty for “insulting the prophet,” referring to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The verdict is not final and can still be appealed.

The 37-year-old musician, known for blending rap, pop, and R&B, had been living in Istanbul since 2018 before being detained in Iran in December 2023. Tataloo had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison for promoting “prostitution” and faced additional charges of disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic and publishing “obscene content.”

Despite his controversial image, Tataloo had been courted by conservative politicians as a bridge to Iran’s youth. In 2017, he held a televised meeting with then-President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in 2024. The heavily tattooed artist had also released a song in 2015 supporting Iran’s nuclear program, which was later dismantled under a 2015 international agreement that collapsed in 2018 during Donald Trump‘s presidency.