Update on the situation of Afrooz Kian-Arsi, artist imprisoned in Isfahan’s Dolatabad Prison

Hengaw – Tuesday, July 15, 2025 

Afrooz Kian-Arsi, an artist based in Isfahan, has been held in Dolatabad Prison for the past two months as she serves a six-month prison sentence. 

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Kian-Arsi was transferred to Dolatabad Prison in early May 2025, to begin serving her sentence. Over the past two months, she has been held in poor psychological condition and is currently awaiting a response to her request for conditional release with an electronic ankle bracelet. 

Kian-Arsi was initially arrested in 2023 and released after 12 days. In December 2024, she was sentenced by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan to six months of mandatory imprisonment and an additional six months of suspended imprisonment on charges of “propaganda against the state,” a sentence later upheld by the Court of Appeal. 

The charges against her stem from her artistic work, specifically a mosaic piece titled Woman, Life, Freedom.