Iranian-Afghan protest detainee Zahra Mousavi sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison in Mashhad

Hengaw – Thursday, May 14, 2026

Zahra Mousavi, a 21-year-old Iranian-Afghan resident of Fariman in Razavi Khorasan province and one of the detainees of the January 2026 protests, has been sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to a total of 10 years and 6 months in prison, according to to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Under Iran’s sentencing aggregation law, the most severe sentence, four years of discretionary imprisonment, will be enforceable, while the remaining six years and six months have been suspended.

Mousavi was recently sentenced by a branch of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad on charges including “forming a group,” “training in and manufacturing incendiary materials (Molotov cocktails),” and “encouraging individuals to disrupt national security.”

She received four years of enforceable imprisonment in addition to a suspended sentence of six years and six months.

Zahra Mousavi was arrested on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, during the January protests by Iranian government forces and is currently being held in the Aramesh ward of Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.

Hengaw had previously reported that Iranian authorities revoked Mousavi’s Iranian birth certificate and threatened her with “revocation of citizenship” and deportation.

These actions have been taken despite the fact that she was born in Iran and, prior to her arrest, worked as a cashier in a restaurant in Fariman while serving as the primary provider for her family.