Protest detainee Rasul Salehi sentenced to over nine years in prison

Hengaw – Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Rasul Salehi, a Lor man arrested during protests earlier this year in Najafabad, has been sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to a total of nine years and three months in prison, with the most severe sentence enforceable.

Based on information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Revolutionary Court sentenced Salehi to five years in prison on charges of “facilitating the means for assembly and collusion,” two years for “insulting the Supreme Leader,” one year and three months for “propaganda against the state,” and one year for “spreading falsehoods.” Under Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code, only the harshest sentence, five years of imprisonment, will be carried out.

Salehi had called for the release of detainees in a video he published following the killing of a teenager in Yazdanshahr during the protests earlier this year. He was ultimately arrested on January 6, 2026, by Iranian forces at a relative’s home in the city of Baghbahadoran.