Iranian authorities sentenced a 23-year-old student to death for blasphemy in social media posts, rights groups said, as the judiciary’s use of capital punishment on political charges mounts. Najmeh Amini was arrested in February in the northeastern city of Mashhad and sentenced to death in September on charges of insulting the Prophet Mohammed, rights groups including the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in separate statements. Iran has already hanged 34 men on charges related to the January 2026 protests. But at least eight women, as well as Amini, are facing execution on political and security charges, according to rights groups. “I am an innocent girl. A young person with so many hopes and dreams. I have a mother and father who are waiting for me, a family who spend every night afraid of losing me until morning comes,” Amini said in an audio message from prison in September that was shared by the rights groups. “Remember my name. Perhaps I won’t be able to speak anymore. But as long as I am alive, I have one hope: that before the rope becomes the end of my life, I will see a free and liberated Iran.” The use of blasphemy charges, a capital crime in the Islamic republic, had been relatively rare in recent years. Bahar Ghandehari, director of advocacy at the CHRI, told AFP the “authorities may... be using this rare and severe verdict to make an example of her (Amini) and discourage similar acts as popular discontent continues to increase”. “Her case reflects the broader escalation of arbitrary arrests, politically motivated prosecutions, and death sentences following the bloody crackdown on protesters,” she added. ‘Life at stake’ “Amini’s life is at stake, and the international community must act urgently to stop her execution,” Ghandehari said. The verdict is not final and still subject to appeal. Details of her trial remain sparse, but according to reports in the regional daily Khorosan, Amini’s lawyer argued her posts were not intentional while Amini said she had been under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms she had consumed with friends. The precise nature of the posts was unclear. She was sentenced to death on charges of “sabb al-nabi”, the capital crime of insulting the Prophet Mohammed, according to the CHRI. In a separate case, the accounting student was also sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for acting against national security. HRANA said Amini has been tracked by Iran’s FATA cyber police after the protests, which peaked in mid-January. Mass rallies in Mashhad and other big cities were suppressed in a crackdown rights groups say left thousands dead. “Amini was held in prolonged isolation, subjected to physical beatings during arrest, and entirely denied access to a lawyer of her choice,” it said. IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said the case “risks expanding the use of the death penalty against peaceful online expression”. “Sentencing a 23-year-old woman to death for what she expressed on social media is an extremely alarming development,” he said.
