An Iranian court has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi to a new prison term of seven and a half years, according to a statement released on Sunday by the Narges Foundation, a group supporting her.
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Mohammadi, 53, who has spent decades campaigning for women’s rights and against the death penalty in Iran, received the sentence while being held in detention in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The foundation said she informed her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, of the verdict during a brief phone call from prison on Sunday, adding that she had been sentenced a day earlier.
The activist had been on a week-long hunger strike, which ended on Sunday. According to the foundation, she had been held in near-total isolation with limited access to communication before the call with her lawyer.
Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the ruling. The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mohammadi was arrested on December 12 after criticising the death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, which she described as suspicious. Prosecutors alleged that during Alikordi’s memorial ceremony in Mashhad, she made provocative remarks, encouraged the chanting of what they termed “norm-breaking slogans” and disrupted public order.
Her sentence includes six years in prison on charges of assembly and collusion against national security, and an additional 18 months for propaganda against the government. The court also imposed two years of internal exile in the city of Khusf, along with a two-year travel ban.
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The verdict comes amid a renewed crackdown on dissent in Iran following weeks of anti-government protests that began in late December.
Mohammadi has been imprisoned repeatedly during her three-decade activism. In 2023, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while behind bars, in recognition of her efforts to promote women’s rights and oppose capital punishment in Iran.