Two women remain in legal limbo in Mashhad prison after reacting to Khamenei’s death online

Hengaw – Sunday, May 10, 2026

Seventy days after their arrest, Melika Khavari Khorasani and Mina Zarei, two residents of Mashhad, remain detained in a state of legal limbo in the quarantine ward of Vakilabad Central Prison in Mashhad.

According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, 21-year-old Melika Khavari Khorasani and Mina Zarei were arrested separately by Iranian government forces in Mashhad on Sunday, March 1, 2026.

Despite the passage of more than two months since their arrest, judicial authorities have refused to clarify their legal status or issue temporary release orders.

Sources told Hengaw that the arrests of Mina Zarei and Melika Khavari Khorasani were linked to their reactions on social media to the “40-day war and the death of Ali Khamenei.”