Iranian prisoner at imminent risk of execution on Israel espionage charges

Mohammadi herself is in Iranian custody after she was arrested at the memorial ceremony for Khrosrow Alikordi in Mashhad last week, who long campaigned against executions and prison mistreatment before his death.

Shirin Ardakani, her lawyer in France, told Iran International on Wednesday she is preparing to send a report to the ICC prosecutor in The Hague, urging an inquiry into what she described as serious violations committed by Iranian authorities.

Ardakani said the submission will highlight Alikordi’s death as part of a wider pattern of abuses targeting dissidents, prisoners and their legal representatives.

According to a post on Mohammadi's official X account, she was able to reach supporters during a brief phone call from prison in which she saidshe was beaten with batons during her arrest on Friday and has since been taken to the emergency room twice due to the severity of her injuries.

Alikordi, 46, was found dead under unclear circumstances, prompting some attorneys and activists to suggest possible Iranian government involvement.

Officials have suggested he suffered a heart attack, but relatives, colleagues, and rights groups have raised doubts, pointing to reports of injuries, blood at the scene, and removed security cameras.

Fellow lawyer Marzieh Mohebbi wrote on X that Alikordi died from a blow to the head, according to what she called trusted contacts. Security officers, she said, removed cameras from the area and that access to his family had become impossible.

“The ultimate goal is for Iran to one day be held accountable for these crimes,” Ardakani said. “Exposing crimes is not a crime. Arbitrary arrests, blinding protesters, using the death penalty to silence dissent and systematic violence are part of Iran’s record over decades – and those who speak about this reality are innocent.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee condemned Mohammadi’s arrest last week and called on Tehran to specify Mohammadi’s place of detention, ensure her safety and well-being, and release her unconditionally.

The national security offenses for which they were convicted involve house-church worship and Christian activity online, according to UK-based rights groups Article 18.

House-church leader Joseph Shahbazian, his wife Lida, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh, another woman whose name has not been disclosed and Aida Najaflou were sentenced, it added.

All except Lida Shahbazian, who received 8 years, were sentenced to 10 years; at least two, including Najaflou, received an additional 5 years for “gathering and collusion.”

Aida Najaflou, 44, fell from her top bunk in the early hours of October 31, fracturing her T12 vertebra. She was taken to Taleghani Hospital for an X-ray but returned to prison the same day on a stretcher, still in severe pain and without the surgery doctors recommended.

Najaflou, who also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, has required hospital treatment twice since her injury, most recently for an infected surgical wound while remaining in custody, according to rights group Article18.

The sentences were issued on 21 October by Judge Abolghasem Salavati at Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court but were only communicated verbally to the Christians in late November and early December, the group said.

Judge Salavati was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for his role in human rights abuses.

The Christians are expected to appeal, but advocates say the case reflects a broader pattern of punishing converts for peaceful activities such as worship, Bible distribution, and house-church meetings.

“The trial bore many hallmarks of a lack of due process: lengthy pre-trial detention, heavy bail demands, and the use of vague security-related articles to criminalize religious practice,” Article18 director Mansour Borji told Christian Daily International.

“Case files describe the distribution of Bibles and Christian texts, and efforts to share theology with others, as evidence justifying the sentences,” he added.

Under Iranian law, only ethnic Armenians and Assyrians born into Christianity are recognized as Christians; conversion from Islam is prohibited.

Panahi’s film, It Was Just an Accident, was included among 15 shortlisted titles as France’s official submission. Films from 86 countries were eligible in the category, with Academy members required to view all shortlisted entries to take part in the nominations round.

The film was made secretly inside Iran and follows the moral dilemma of a group of former political prisoners who believe they have captured the man who once tortured them. The work draws directly on Panahi’s own experiences of detention and surveillance.

It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, further cementing Panahi’s standing as one of Iran’s most internationally recognized filmmakers despite long-standing restrictions on his work.

Legal pressure at home

Earlier this month, Panahi’s lawyer said the director had been sentenced in absentia to one year in prison on a charge of propaganda against the state. The ruling also included a two-year travel ban and restrictions on political and social activity. The sentence was issued while Panahi was abroad promoting the film.

Panahi has said he plans to return to Iran after completing the awards campaign, despite the risks. “I have only one passport, the passport of my country,” he said earlier this month.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22, 2026. The awards ceremony is scheduled for March 15 in Los Angeles.

In a written response, Sweden’s foreign ministry said the embassy in Tehran and the ministry were in contact with the family and that the citizen had access to a lawyer, adding that no further details could be provided for consular reasons and to avoid disrupting the case.

Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday that the case was examined in Alborz province and heard by the second branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and that a verdict would be issued soon.

“Based on reports and the defendant’s own confessions, he was recruited by the Israeli intelligence services in 2023,” Jahangir told reporters. He said the defendant, identified only as a Swedish citizen since 2020, later traveled to six European capitals to receive espionage training, made several trips to Israel and entered Iran about a month before the recent war, staying in a villa near Karaj. Jahangir said electronic surveillance equipment was discovered during the conflict and that the defendant had confessed to spying for Israel.

Iranian officials say the arrest forms part of a broader picture of alleged espionage uncovered during and after the war. Authorities have said more than 700 people were detained on suspicion of spying or cooperating with Israel following the conflict, which lasted 12 days and included US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

In November, the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said it dismantled what it described as US-Israeli spy networks inside Iran. Parliament has also approved emergency legislation allowing espionage suspects to be prosecuted under wartime legal provisions.

Executions and international concern

Iran has carried out several executions in recent months over espionage convictions tied to Israel. The judiciary has said those executed were convicted of offenses including “enmity against God” and collaboration with hostile states.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran and international rights groups say at least a dozen people have been executed on espionage charges this year, many after the war. Rights groups have raised concern about due process, while Iranian authorities say the judiciary is acting in line with domestic law to protect national security.

Nayeb Askari, who is serving a 15-year sentence at Orumiyeh Central Prison in northwest Iran formally informed prison authorities that he had started a hunger strike and sewed his lips on December 13, France-based rights group Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said.

In a letter to prison officials, Askari said he had been barred from family visits for the past year without explanation and that repeated requests for temporary prison leave had gone unanswered. He launched the hunger strike after prison authorities failed to respond to his complaints, he added.

Askari, from Orumiyeh, was arrested on March 24, 2021, by intelligence agents from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was initially held at the IRGC’s Al-Mahdi detention center for three months, where he was allegedly subjected to physical and psychological torture, according to KHRN.

"He was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture in order to extract forced confessions," KHRN said. "He was also denied access to a lawyer and contact with his family during this period," the rights group added.

Askari's arrest followed his return to Iran from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq after receiving what the rights group described as a “safe-conduct letter” arranged through the IRGC.

Iranian authorities initially sentenced Askari to death in absentia in 2018 on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) linked to alleged membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), according to KHRN. The sentence was later overturned, and the charge was amended to “armed insurrection” (baghi).

In October 2023, Askari was again sentenced to death on the same charge, prompting a brief hunger strike. The Supreme Court later overturned the ruling for a second time and referred the case to another court branch.

In mid-October 2024, Askari was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 900 million rials (about $700) on charges of “armed insurrection,” the rights group said.

KHRN said Askari has previously staged prolonged hunger strikes in detention, including a 32-day strike in 2021 to protest authorities’ refusal to transfer him to an external hospital for medical treatment.