In a move that has drawn swift condemnation from international human rights observers, an Iranian Revolutionary Court has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to a new six-year prison term.
The ruling was handed down in Mashhad.
Indeed, marks the latest escalation in the Islamic Republic’s decade-long campaign to silence one of its most prominent and defiant critics.
The Verdict and Charges
On February 8, 2026, Mohammadi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed that his client was sentenced to a total of 7.5 years in prison.
Whereby 6 years for “gathering and collusion against national security.”
And an additional 1.5 years for “propaganda against the state.”
Under Iranian law, these sentences are typically served concurrently, meaning Mohammadi faces an effective six-year term for this specific case.
Beyond the prison time, the court imposed a two-year travel ban.
And sentenced her to two years of internal exile in the remote city of Khusf, located in the eastern province of South Khorasan.
Arrest and Defiance in Mashhad
The new charges stem from Mohammadi’s arrest on December 12, 2025.
Despite being on a temporary medical furlough at the time, she attended a memorial service for Khosrow Alikordi, a human rights lawyer who died under suspicious circumstances.
Witnesses and video footage from the event captured Mohammadi standing atop a vehicle, hair uncovered in defiance of mandatory hijab laws.
Additionally, leading mourners in chants of “Death to the dictator” and “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation.”
The Mashhad prosecutor later accused her of making “provocative remarks” and “disturbing the peace.”
A Hunger Strike Amid Deteriorating Health
The sentencing coincided with the end of a six-day hunger strike Mohammadi began on February 2 to protest the conditions of her detention.
And her inability to contact her family.
Her support foundation, the Narges Foundation, reported that her health has reached an “alarming” state.
Mohammadi, 53, has a history of heart disease and underwent emergency surgery in 2022.
Late in 2024, she had a bone lesion removed that doctors feared was cancerous.
Her legal team has expressed grave concern about the harsh conditions in Mashhad’s detention centers.
Also, coupled with the upcoming exile to a remote region, it poses a direct threat to her life.
The Cost of Advocacy
Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her “fight against the oppression of women in Iran.
In addition to her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
She has spent much of the last 20 years in and out of prison.
A separation that has kept her from seeing her twin children, who have lived in exile in Paris since 2015.
With this latest ruling, her total ordered prison time across various cases now reaches a staggering 44 years.
Yet, even from behind the walls of the notorious Evin and Mashhad prisons, Mohammadi remains a central figure in the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.
As the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted during her award ceremony, Mohammadi’s struggle comes at a “tremendous personal cost.”
This latest sentence serves as a stark reminder that for Iran’s most celebrated activist, the price of speaking truth to power continues to rise.
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