The US State Department called the sentence of more than five years in prison, asset freezes and restrictions on travel and expression against Jaafar Panhi, an Iranian filmmaker, "absurd" and strongly condemned it. The official Persian page of this ministry wrote on Instagram on Saturday, November 7, that punishing world-renowned artists for telling authentic human stories is "a blatant attack on fundamental freedoms." The US State Department added that Panhi's films presented the spirit of Iran and protected artistic freedom for decades. The office said: "Art is not a crime. "Censorship cannot silence the truth." Mustafa Neely, Panhi's lawyer, announced earlier that Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced his client in absentia to a sentence of five years and one month in prison, confiscation of all property and a two-year ban on leaving the country and social networks.

The US State Department called the sentence of more than five years in prison, asset freezes and restrictions on travel and expression against Jaafar Panhi, an Iranian filmmaker, "absurd" and strongly condemned it. The official Persian page of this ministry wrote on Instagram on Saturday, November 7, that punishing world-renowned artists for telling authentic human stories is "a blatant attack on fundamental freedoms." The US State Department added that Panhi's films presented the spirit of Iran and protected artistic freedom for decades. The office said: "Art is not a crime. "Censorship cannot silence the truth." Mustafa Neely, Panhi's lawyer, announced earlier that Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced his client in absentia to a sentence of five years and one month in prison, confiscation of all property and a two-year ban on leaving the country and social networks.