Nine Ahwazi Arab Women Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison; Sentence Reduction Conditional on Mandatory Ideological Course

Breathing in Confinement, Thursday, 24 September 2026: The Ahvaz Revolutionary Court has sentenced nine Arab women to a combined total of 45 years’ imprisonment in a joint case. According to published reports, each woman was sentenced to five years in prison, with a reduction of the sentence to one year made conditional upon completing a one-year course described as “intellectual or ideological-political reform.”

According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, the sentences were issued after the nine women had previously been arrested in connection with their activities and communications on social media. The charges brought against them include “membership in a group, or forming an association or branch of associations aimed at disrupting national security,” “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” and “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against internal or external security.”

The women have been identified as Saeideh Heidari-Rad, Amal Dahimavi, Kosar Asakereh, Ayat Mohammadi, Fatemeh Savari, Khadijeh Havali, Eftekhar Rostamizadeh, Seyedeh Fatemeh Hosseini, and Ameneh Beit-Sayah.

According to published reports, the women were arrested by security forces in 2024 and were subsequently released on bail or other forms of judicial security after undergoing interrogation and the opening of judicial cases against them. Reports indicate that they were held for several months in Intelligence Ministry detention facilities and were subjected to physical and psychological pressure during their detention.

As part of the subsequent judicial proceedings, the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court summoned the women to receive their sentences. According to recent reports, each has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The rulings are preliminary and may be appealed.

At the same time, reports concerning the case indicate that the presiding judge stated that if the women participate in and complete a one-year course described as “intellectual or ideological-political reform,” each woman’s prison sentence would be reduced to one year. This condition represents a further aspect of the judicial proceedings that has drawn attention in human rights reports.

An informed source famili