Iman Rashidi and Arsalan Yazdani, two Baha’is, arrested to serve prison sentences

Hengaw – Monday, August 24, 2026

Two Baha’is, Iman Rashidi in Yazd and Arsalan Yazdani in Karaj, have been arrested in recent days to serve prison sentences and transferred to Yazd Central Prison and Greater Tehran Prison, respectively.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Rashidi was arrested on Sunday, August 23, 2026, after appearing before Branch 1 of the Enforcement Office of the Yazd Revolutionary Court and transferred to Yazd Central Prison.

He had been sentenced to three years, six months, and one day in prison, 15 years of deprivation of social rights, and a fine of 371 million rials on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “deviant propaganda activities contrary to the sacred Islamic Sharia.”

Rashidi was arrested by the Yazd Intelligence Department in October 2023 and released on bail in March 2024. His interrogation and court sessions were held without access to a lawyer. He had also previously been arrested over his activities and was released in February 2018 after completing an earlier sentence.

Meanwhile, Arsalan Yazdani, 43, a Karaj resident, was arrested on Saturday, August 22, 2026, during a raid on his home by security forces and transferred to Greater Tehran Prison (Fashafuyeh) to serve his sentence. The forces also searched the home and confiscated the family’s electronic devices.

Yazdani was sentenced to five years in prison for “membership in the Baha’i organization” and one year for “propaganda against the state.” Under Iran’s sentence-merging provisions, the five-year term was initially enforceable, but an appeals court reduced his sentence to three years in December 2023.

He had previously been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in September 2021 and later released on bail.