Iranian Photojournalist Yalda Moaiery Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery, known for documenting protests and the lives of women in the country, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Moaiery said the sentence was handed down by Iran's Revolutionary Court under legislation introduced after the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in 2025. Iranian authorities say the law is intended to combat espionage and cooperation with hostile states. The case has drawn attention because of Moaiery's long history of reporting on protests and women's rights in Iran.

What is Yalda Moaiery accused of?

Moaiery said she went to Tehran's Revolutionary Court but was not given official copies of the documents outlining the case. A friend accompanying her instead copied details from the charge sheet by hand. According to the handwritten document reviewed by Reuters, she was accused of giving interviews to media outlets considered hostile by Iranian authorities and providing photographs to organisations linked to the US and Israel. Moaiery said she had provided CNN with photographs showing damage caused by air strikes in Iran and appeared in an interview about her work in March 2026.

Equipment seized during raids

In a statement provided to Reuters, Moaiery said members of the intelligence wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps raided her home during anti-government protests in January. She said officers took her phone, laptop and other electronic equipment. According to Moaiery, IRGC officers returned after US air strikes on Iran this year and seized more of her belongings. “On this occasion, they took everything, including even the cameras I had owned since childhood,” she said. She said she was questioned several times before her case was sent to the Security Prosecutor's Office and then to the Revolutionary Court. “I was subjected to several interrogations, and eventually my case was referred to Branch 33 of the Security Prosecutor’s Office and subsequently to the Revolutionary Court.”

Previous prison sentence

This is not Moaiery's first imprisonment over her journalism. She previously spent two years in Gharchak Prison, a facility she had photographed during her career. In 2022, she was jailed for three months and sentenced to eight years in prison after covering the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. An amnesty later reduced that sentence, although Moaiery said the case continued to result in questioning by authorities. She now has 10 days to appeal her latest sentence under the 2025 legislation, compared with the longer appeal period available under previous laws.