Iran’s Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence For Women’s Rights Activist

The Iranian Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a 45-year-old mother and women’s rights activist who has been reportedly held in solitary confinement and tortured by agents of the Iranian regime.

Sharifeh Mohammadi, the mother of a twelve-year-old son, was arrested on December 5, 2023, at her home in Rasht by agents of the government and reportedly subjected to both mental and physical torture to coerce a confession.

On July 4, 2024, the Revolutionary Court in Rasht convicted her of armed rebellion and sentenced her to death. Her family and the Coordination Committee for Helping to Establish Labor Organizations, which she had stopped working with as far back as 2011, denied the charges. On October 12, 2024, the Supreme Court (Branch 39) overturned the initial death sentence due to weak evidence, lack of links to armed activity, and judicial irregularities.

On February 13, 2025, the Revolutionary Court led by Judge Mohammad Ali Darvish Goftar, who was the son of the original judge who condemned her to death, again sentenced her to death. On Sunday, the Iranian Supreme Court upheld this second death sentence even though legal concerns that had been raised were not addressed.

85 inmates in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison are staging a hunger strike in support of Mohammadi. At the beginning of August, 31 Thirty-one international and regional women’s rights and human rights organizations condemned the death sentence imposed in February, writing:

Sharifeh Mohammadi is an Iranian woman human rights defender (WHRD) and long-time labor rights activist, who organized in support of the rights of workers, through a registered, independent, public and legal organization of the same aim. … This sentence constitutes one of the harshest punishments imposed on a human rights defender in Iran and the broader SWANA region. The conviction of a woman human rights defender solely for peaceful labor rights advocacy has shocked both Iranian civil society and the international human rights community. We believe Sharifeh Mohammadi is a victim of a fabricated case and that all charges against her are unfounded.

Noted Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad wrote on X:

Today, the Iranian regime confirmed the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a mother, a labor activist, and a defender of women’s rights. Her only act was standing up for justice and dignity. Now she faces execution, leaving behind a young child who may never again feel her embrace. This is not just an attack on one woman, it is an attack on every mother who dares to dream of a better life for her children. When injustice threatens the most vulnerable among us, our silence becomes consent.

Today, the Iranian regime confirmed the death sentence of Sharifeh Mohammadi, a mother, a labor activist, and a defender of women’s rights. Her only act was standing up for justice and dignity. Now she faces execution, leaving behind a young child who may never again feel her… pic.twitter.com/jwtPbfgtvj

— Masih Alinejad ????️ (@AlinejadMasih) August 16, 2025