An Iranian court upheld the death sentence against dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam who was arrested last year, the country’s Supreme Court told reporters on Tuesday.

Ruhollah Zam was found guilty in June of “corruption on earth,” a charge often used in cases of espionage or attempts to overthrow the government, and inciting violence that supported anti-government demonstrations. Through Zam and others, Iran accused the West of encouraging unrest over economic hardship that sparked mass demonstrations in late 2017. Over 20 people were killed and thousands were arrested. 

"The Islamic Republic has a rich track record in looking for scapegoats to point out why people come to the streets over the last 42 years to protest," said Alex Vatanka, director of the Middle East Institute’s Iran program. “The headline they want to go with is that there's some kind of a plot that is being pursued by internal enemies of the Islamic Republic — infiltrators, as they like to call them.”

Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Iran has repeatedly accused Western actors of efforts to destabilize its regime, often citing “infiltration networks.” The regime even filed criminal charges against Russian national Pavel Durov, who created the free messaging app Telegram that was a popular platform to spread protest times and locations.