Baha’i woman Anisa Fanaeian rearrested to serve eight-year prison sentence

Hengaw – Monday, May 11, 2026

Iranian security forces rearrested former political prisoner and Baha’i resident of Semnan, Anisa Fanaeian, and transferred her to Semnan Central Prison to serve an eight-year prison sentence, despite her previous release following a Supreme Court order suspending the sentence.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, government forces raided Fanaeian’s home in Semnan on the afternoon of Monday, May 11, 2026, arrested her, and transferred her to prison to enforce the sentence.

Fanaeian had previously been released in October 2025 after serving eight months in prison, following a Supreme Court order suspending the implementation of her sentence and granting temporary release on bail. However, her case was later referred to a parallel branch, Branch 10 of the Semnan Province Court of Appeals, which once again sentenced her to eight years in prison.

Anisa Fanaeian, a mother of two, had previously been sentenced in December 2025 to seven years in prison on charges of “forming a group with the intent to disrupt national security” and one additional year for “propaganda against the state,” primarily in connection with charitable activities, including providing free educational support to underprivileged and Afghan children.

The Baha’i woman had also previously served a one-year prison sentence in Semnan in 2013 while her husband was imprisoned and their children were only three and seven years old.