HRANA – Hengameh Sharifinia, Fouad Abdolghaffari, and Fahim Agahi, three Baha’i citizens, have been sentenced to a combined 35 years in prison by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. They were also subjected to additional punishments, including travel bans, restrictions on participation in groups and organizations, and confiscation of their property.
According to HRANA, Baha’i citizens Hengameh Sharifinia, Fouad Abdolghaffari, and Fahim Agahi have been sentenced to prison and additional punishments.
The ruling was issued in late September by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati. Under the ruling, Ms. Sharifinia was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years of deprivation of social rights on the charge of “deviant educational or proselytizing activities contrary to or disruptive of the sacred law of Islam,” under Article 500 bis of the Islamic Penal Code. She was also sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of “membership in groups and organizations aimed at disrupting national security,” under Article 499 of the Islamic Penal Code.
Fouad Abdolghaffari and Fahim Agahi were each sentenced to five years in prison on the charge of “proselytizing activities contrary to Islamic law” and an additional five years in prison, along with a fine of 80 million tomans, on the charge of “membership in groups and organizations aimed at disrupting national security.” In addition to these sentences, all three Baha’i citizens received supplementary punishments consisting of a two-year ban on participating in groups and organizations and a two-year travel ban.
Under the ruling, property belonging to the three citizens was also confiscated.
The three had previously been tried in a joint case before the same branch of the court.
HRANA previously reported their arrests in October 2025 amid a wave of security measures targeting Baha’i citizens. Hengameh Sharifinia and Fahim Agahi were arrested in Tehran, while security forces simultaneously searched the homes of several Baha’i citizens. Fouad Abdolghaffari was also arrested in Tehran as part of the same wave of actions, while his home was being searched.
Over the past decade, Iran’s Baha’i community has faced more security and judicial actions than any other religious minority in the country. A review of HRA’s annual reports shows that, over the past three years, an average of 72% of reports concerning religious minorities have involved violations of the civil rights of Baha’is.
