An Iranian writer and activist, Hossein Shanbehzadeh, just got sentenced to 12 years in prison for - I promise this is a real story - replying to a post from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with a period.
Yeah, an actual period.
"."
Not an insult, not some scathing political commentary — just a period. But in Iran, even punctuation is a criminal offense, and the regime is cracking down.
Darn Zionists and their grammar!
Hilariously, Shanbehzadeh's "." got more "likes" than Khamenei's original tweet, and that was enough to get him a one-way ticket to the Iranian gulag.
Hell hath no fury like an Islamic dictator scorned on social media.
This isn't Shanbehzadeh's first rodeo. The guy's been a thorn in the regime's side for a while — supporting political prisoners, speaking out against mandatory hijabs, you know, all the stuff that makes these particular dictators nervous.
He was jailed back in 2019 for "insulting" Khamenei, and even wrote about being flogged during his time in prison.
But don't forget! All roads lead to Israel in the mind of the antisemite. Iran also sentenced Shanbehzadeh to five years for "pro-Israel propaganda activity," as well as four years for "insulting Islamic sanctities," two years for "spreading lies online," and one year for "anti-regime propaganda."
That's more charges than Donald Trump in a blue state.
When it comes to the "pro-Israel propaganda" charge, the prosecutor's office claims Shanbehzadeh was in contact with Israeli intelligence officers. Because apparently Mossad has moved on from assassinating terrorists worldwide and are busy DMing with guys who use sarcastic punctuation on social media.
Just wait until the Mother of All Emoji Wars breaks out next year!
Shanbehzadeh's lawyer is appealing the verdict, but unfortunately … he's in Iran.
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