Iranian psychologist sentenced after video urging Trump to aid protesters
Psychologist Seyed Ahmad Seyedabdollahi received a seven-month jail term for a video pleading with Donald Trump to support Iranian demonstrators, and his family says officials tried to force him to denigrate the United States.
On Jan. 4, Seyed Ahmad Seyedabdollahi, a psychologist from Borujen, uploaded an English video directly addressing Donald Trump, urging the president to fulfill his pledge to back Iranian protestors. Authorities arrested him on Jan. 14 at his father’s house, confiscated his devices, and detained him in solitary confinement at an IRGC intelligence facility in Isfahan. The Borujen Revolutionary Court convicted him of “engaging in media activities against national security,” sentencing him to seven months in prison and prohibiting him from government or public sector work for five years.
His family says interrogators alleged foreign funding, linked him to the CIA and Mossad, and demanded he produce a second video that would insult Trump and portray Americans as ignorant, a request he declined. A separate case for “propaganda against the establishment” opened in June and is still in the investigative phase. He is currently held in Borujen Prison, where his relatives claim he continues to face pressure and intermittent solitary confinement.
Why it matters
The case highlights Iran's crackdown on dissent and the risks faced by citizens who publicly seek foreign support.
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