An Iranian court has sentenced the famous pop singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to prison for disseminating "obscene content", state media reported Sunday.

The popular underground musician, 36, had been living in Istanbul since 2018 before Turkish police handed him over to Iran in December of last year.

He has been in detention in Iran since then.

His lawyer Elham Rahimifar said Tataloo was given multiple "short and long" jail terms, without elaborating.

The sentences can be appealed, Rahimifar told state-run newspaper Jam-e Jam.

Under Iranian law, jail sentences run concurrently.

The artist, known for combining rap, pop and R&B, has experienced a dramatic swing in his fortunes in recent years.

The heavily tattooed singer was previously courted by conservative politicians as a way to reach out to young, liberal-minded Iranians.

He even held an awkward televised meeting with ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi when the latter was making his first bid for office in 2017.

In 2015, he published a song in support of Iran's nuclear program as a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and the world powers was unravelling.