The Tehran prosecutor has filed charges against Hadi Heidari, an Iranian cartoonist, over a caricature depicting President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Mizan News Agency, the media arm of Iran’s Judiciary, reported on July 29, 2025, that “the Tehran prosecutor has filed charges against a cartoonist for publishing an insulting caricature targeting the Iranian people. The cartoonist in question has been summoned to the Tehran prosecutor’s office, and a judicial case has been opened.”
While Mizan did not name the cartoonist, a caricature by Hadi Heidari had sparked controversy the previous day. Heidari’s caricature portrayed President Masoud Pezeshkian riding a donkey backward, with the word “unity” (a key slogan from Pezeshkian’s election campaign) written on the donkey’s neck.
The caricature was drawn in response to a bill submitted by the government to the parliament. On July 21, 2025, President Pezeshkian sent a letter to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, introducing the “Bill to Counter the Publication of False News Content in Cyberspace” with double urgency. This bill could significantly restrict free information dissemination in Iran, particularly for social media users, and has drawn widespread criticism from journalists and political activists.
The “Bill to Counter the Publication of False News Content in Cyberspace” was sent to parliament at a time when, throughout 2024 and the first half of 2025, “spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion” was the most frequently cited charge against journalists and media outlets in Iran. This extralegal accusation, repeatedly leveled by the Islamic Republic against media professionals, systematically targets the credibility of independent journalism in the country.