Narges Mohammadi Handed New Prison Sentence as Iran Tightens Grip on Dissent

Iran has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven additional years in prison, her supporters said on Sunday, deepening concerns over the country’s escalating crackdown on dissent after nationwide protests and deadly security force responses.

The latest ruling was issued a day after Mohammadi began a hunger strike, according to her supporters. Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said the sentence was handed down on Saturday by a court in Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran. Iranian authorities have not publicly acknowledged the verdict.

In a post on X, Nili said Mohammadi received six years for what the court described as “gathering and collusion,” and an additional 18 months for propaganda against the state. The ruling also includes a two-year travel ban. Separately, she was sentenced to two years of internal exile in Khosf, a remote city around 740 kilometres south-east of Tehran.

Supporters say Mohammadi has been on hunger strike since 2 February. She was arrested in December during a memorial ceremony in Mashhad for Khosrow Alikordi, a 46-year-old lawyer and human rights advocate. Video from the gathering showed Mohammadi shouting slogans and calling for justice for Alikordi and others.

The new sentence comes at a sensitive moment for Tehran. Iran is engaged in talks with the United States over its nuclear programme, seeking to avert a military strike threatened by Donald Trump. On Sunday, Iran’s top diplomat said the country’s strength lay in its ability to resist pressure from major powers, striking a defiant tone after negotiations in Oman.

Mohammadi, 53, had been temporarily released from prison in December 2024 on medical furlough. Although the leave was initially expected to last three weeks, it was repeatedly extended. Supporters said international pressure and domestic advocacy may have played a role in keeping her out of custody longer than planned, including during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.

During that period, Mohammadi remained publicly active. She attended protests, spoke to international media, and at one point demonstrated outside Tehran’s Evin prison, where she had previously been held. She was serving a 13-year, nine-month sentence on charges related to state security and propaganda.

Mohammadi has been a prominent supporter of the protests that followed the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which saw widespread defiance of Iran’s mandatory hijab rules. Her supporters say she has suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned and underwent emergency surgery in 2022. In late 2024, doctors discovered a bone lesion that was later removed amid fears it could be cancerous.

Nili said her medical condition remains serious and called for her temporary release on bail to allow treatment. Iranian officials, however, have signalled a tougher stance against all forms of dissent since the protests, offering little indication that leniency will follow.

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For now, Mohammadi’s case stands as a stark marker of the narrowing space for activism in Iran, even as the country seeks diplomatic room abroad.