Fitness trainer Narges Heydari sentenced to five years in prison

Hengaw – Wednesday, September 9, 2026

The Iranian judiciary has sentenced Narges Heydari, a 38-year-old Lor-Bakhtiari fitness and bodybuilding trainer from Izeh who was arrested during the January 2026 protests, to five years in prison. She is currently held in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a branch of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court sentenced Heydari to five years in prison on the charge of “acting against national security.” The court also imposed one year of compulsory “enjoining good” activities, an Islamic practice centered on promoting conduct considered morally right, as a supplementary punishment.

Informed sources said the supplementary punishment was imposed over Heydari’s sporting activities without observing mandatory dress and hijab requirements.

Heydari was arrested by forces from the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday, January 19, 2026, after finishing work in an area between the Red Crescent and Mosalla in Izeh. She was subsequently transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.

Her brother, Nemat Heydari, had also been arrested by security forces on December 30, 2025.