Iran Sentences Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi to 7.5 More Years in Prison

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was handed a new sentence of seven and a half years in prison by a court in the northeastern city of Mashhad, adding to what her supporters say is now a cumulative 44-year term behind bars for her human rights activism.reuters +1 The ruling came as the 53-year-old remained in custody following a week-long hunger strike protesting her detention and conditions in prison.euronews +1

Mohammadi was arrested on 12 December 2025 while attending a memorial service for a deceased lawyer in Mashhad, where prosecutors accused her of making “provocative remarks” and encouraging slogans that disturbed public order.reuters +1 Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said she learned of the verdict on Saturday and was allowed her first phone call with him since mid-December only on Sunday.reuters

New Case Deepens a Long Record of Punitive Sentences

The Mashhad court sentenced Mohammadi to six years for “gathering and collusion against national security” and an additional 18 months for “propaganda against the government,” according to Nili.reuters +1 Alongside the prison term, the court ordered two years of internal exile to the remote city of Khusf and imposed a two-year travel ban, further restricting any future public role she might play.reuters

Her supporters described the trial as a “sham” and said she had been held in near-total isolation since her December arrest, with no access to family or lawyers until this weekend.reuters +1 Before this latest ruling, international rights groups had already documented a patchwork of overlapping sentences against Mohammadi stemming from more than a decade of activism against the death penalty and Iran’s mandatory hijab laws.latimes Amnesty International previously said she was serving multiple terms amounting to nearly 12 years, while her foundation now puts the cumulative figure at 44 years following the Mashhad verdict, highlighting the difficulty of tracking Iran’s opaque judicial processes.bbc +1

Activism From Behind Bars and Concerns Over Her Health

Despite being jailed repeatedly since 2009, Mohammadi continued to organize and speak out from prison, smuggling out essays and giving interviews that detailed alleged abuse of female detainees and the broader crackdown following Iran’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.latimes +1 That record of defiance was central to her Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, awarded for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran,” even as she remained in Tehran’s Evin prison.inquirer

Her latest hunger strike, launched on 2 February 2026, focused on what her family described as harsh conditions, denial of contact with relatives and legal counsel, and inadequate medical care.euronews Mohammadi, who has a history of heart problems and underwent surgery in 2024, was briefly hospitalized during the strike before supporters said she ended it on 8 February amid fears for her deteriorating health.euronews +2 Rights advocates warned that stacking new sentences on a prisoner with serious medical issues amounted to “retaliatory” punishment for her high-profile activism.theguardian

The Bigger Picture

The new sentence underscored how Iran’s judiciary continued to target prominent dissidents even as security forces faced renewed protests and international criticism over a broader human-rights crackdown.kdhnews With Tehran offering no immediate official comment on the ruling, Mohammadi’s case again placed the country’s treatment of political prisoners under global scrutiny and raised fresh questions about whether mounting pressure from foreign governments and rights organizations could alter the fate of one of Iran’s most visible symbols of resistance.reuters +1