Baloch Sunni woman Nasimeh Eslamzehi sentenced to 25 years in prison

Hengaw – Friday, September 11, 2026

Nasimeh Eslamzehi, a 42-year-old Baloch Sunni prisoner of conscience from Saravan who is held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for “aiding and abetting armed rebellion” (baghi) by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati.

Eslamzehi, a mother of two daughters, one of whom was born in prison, received the sentence at the court of first instance. Throughout the proceedings, the courts refused to accept lawyers of her choosing, and her case was heard only with a court-appointed lawyer, according to sources who spoke with Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. She denied all charges during every court session. In a separate part of the case, a criminal court had previously sentenced her to three years and six months in prison.

Iranian state media, including Mehr News Agency, had previously reported that Eslamzehi had been sentenced to death.

Security forces arrested Eslamzehi in September 2023 while she was at the family home during the arrest of her husband, Kurdish man Arsalan Sheikhi. Hengaw has learned that she was arrested solely because she was present at the home. Sheikhi and another defendant in the case, Amanj Karvanche, were executed earlier this year on charges of “armed rebellion” (baghi).

At the time of Eslamzehi’s arrest, her two-year-old daughter, Ayesha, was separated from her and transferred to a state welfare facility before later being handed over to the family. Eslamzehi gave birth to her second daughter, Tasnim, in Evin Prison in late April 2024. She and her newborn were subsequently held for 40 days in solitary confinement in a cell without ventilation or natural light.