Najmeh Amini, a 23-year-old accounting student from Mashhad, has been sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet, according to rights groups, who said the sentence was issued on 16 September.
The Guardian reported that the charge, known in Iran as "sab ol-nabi", related to a social media post. The content of the post has not been published, and no Iranian official or court document confirming the case had been seen.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights and the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) also reported the sentence. Neither group, in the excerpts reviewed, mentioned a social media post, and both described the charge only as insulting the Prophet.
According to the rights groups, Ms Amini was also sentenced to 12 years, six months and one day in prison. They said Branch One of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court imposed that term for "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the state".
The Guardian, in a version published by AOL, and the rights groups said Ms Amini is being held in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, in north-east Iran. Iran Human Rights, a group based in Norway, referred to the facility as Mashhad Central Prison.
HRANA and Hengaw said the sentences were issued on 16 September 2026. HRANA said it based the date on an audio message from Ms Amini.
The two groups said she was arrested on 31 January at the Ferdowsi Shopping Center in Mashhad, during the protests that took place across Iran in January 2026.
Hengaw and HRANA said the charge against her was first described as insulting the Imams. They said it was changed to insulting the Prophet during the proceedings.
According to Iran Human Rights, the trial court rejected her defences that she had made a slip of the tongue and that she was intoxicated. The group said the sentence can be appealed and had not been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, said sentencing a 23-year-old woman to death for what she expressed on social media was "an extremely alarming development". He said the case risked expanding the use of the death penalty against peaceful online expression.
HRANA and Hengaw said Ms Amini had called for a fair trial and for the United Nations to review her case. Activists and outlets linked to the Iranian opposition said she was denied a lawyer of her choice and was pressured during interrogation. Those claims could not be independently confirmed.
No response from Iranian authorities had been reported. Iran's judiciary and its Mizan news agency are the usual places where official statements on such cases are published.
Under Article 262 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code, insulting the Prophet Muhammad or other prophets is punishable by death, according to Iran Human Rights. The group said insulting the Twelve Imams or Fatima is treated in the same way.
Article 263 exempts defendants who say they spoke under coercion, inadvertence, error or similar states, the group said. It said the trial court did not accept those arguments in Ms Amini's case.
Iran Human Rights said two men were executed on blasphemy charges in 2023. The Guardian reported that rights groups say at least 600 executions have taken place in Iran this year.
Rights groups, including HRANA, have reported mass arrests following the January protests. Others have reported many deaths, but casualty figures from a neutral source could not be confirmed.
NewsNation, citing HRANA, reported that another Mashhad woman, Mahboubeh Shabani, was sentenced to death by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court. The charge was "taking operational action to strengthen Israel, the United States" and opposition-linked groups.
Some outlets linked to the exiled opposition gave a different court branch and named a judge. Those details could not be verified and are not included here.
Iran Human Rights has called on the international community to demand that the sentence be overturned. The sentence can be appealed to the Supreme Court, and Ms Amini has asked the UN to review her case.
Photo: mohammad hosein tabatabaeian / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
