Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery, known for documenting life under the Iranian regime, protests and their suppression, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to the official version, the ruling by a court in Iran is tied to charges of activity “in the interest of the Zionist regime against national security,” while Moaiery herself presents the case as a blow against her work as an independent journalist.
A harsh sentence against a critical voice
For more than two decades, Moaiery has documented from the ground protests, war and daily life in Iran. She has now herself become a target of the repressive apparatus she has photographed over the years.
She is expected to appeal the ruling, and has made clear that she does not see the case as an ordinary criminal proceeding, but as punishment for refusing to fit, as she says, into the regime’s propaganda framework.
“I am not willing to work as a person within that propaganda framework. This is the main problem,” Moaiery said, adding that for the Iranian authorities her interviews, photographs and work constitute a “crime” and form part of the charges against her.
Protests and the changing climate in Iranian society
Moaiery also reported during the major anti-government protests in Iran, which she had earlier described as unprecedented in her 25 years of work as a photojournalist.
She spoke of massive crowds in the streets in which, according to her, entire families, children and the elderly took part. But after the suppression of the protests and the killing of thousands of people, according to estimates by human rights organizations, she says Iranian society has sunk into hopelessness.
“It has been one of the saddest periods in our history,” she said, describing a grave social and moral condition among citizens.
From expectations of change to economic crisis
During the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel, Moaiery continued documenting the situation from Tehran despite internet shutdowns and communication restrictions.
In the early stages of the conflict, she had said that some Iranians hoped the war would bring down the regime. But later, according to her, that perception changed significantly.
Now, the main concern for many people is the economy. “People cannot afford even the most basic necessities. The real war now is the economy,” she said.
Direct threats and the final message
Moaiery said that just a few hours before a recent interview, the Iranian authorities had threatened that they would search her home and confiscate her phones if she spoke again with international media.
Despite fear of such a long sentence, she said she would not back down. “Fifteen years is a whole lifetime. But this is the risk I have accepted all my life in order to tell the truth,” the photojournalist said.
Her case is being seen as another indication of pressure on independent journalists in Iran. In the end, the message she conveyed was short and direct: “Don’t forget me.”
The sentence against Yalda Moaiery once again puts at the center the price paid by independent journalists in authoritarian regimes, where documenting reality is treated as a threat to the state.
Beyond her criminal case, the matter raises serious questions about media freedom, the use of national security charges and the real space left for critical voices in Iran.