ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three lawyers in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz have been sentenced to prison and banned from leaving the country after being convicted as part of the expanding wave of crackdowns on thousands of civil society members on politically motivated charges across Iran since anti-government protests in January.
Nazanin Salari, Mahmoud Taravat-Rouy, and Masoud Ahmadian were sentenced to two years in prison for “assembly and collusion with the intent to commit crimes against national security,” by Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, said their lawyer, Mostafa Nili, in an interview with the pro-reform outlet Emtedad.
According to Nili, the lawyers have long provided legal counsel promoting children's rights, women's rights, domestic violence legislation reformation, and legal defense in cases involving child marriage and violence against women.
The court ordered a two-year ban on foreign travel, including the cancellation and confiscation of their passports. The three were additionally sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the system,” but were acquitted of a separate charge of “cooperating with a hostile government.”
This occurs against the backdrop of increasing arrests made against civil society members and minority groups. Rights organizations argue that cases involving lawyers and civil society activists increasingly rely on broadly defined national security charges, which they say are used to criminalize peaceful advocacy and human rights work.
On Saturday, Iranian authorities detained Kurdish civil activist Mohammad Rezaei, a member of the Nozhin Socio-Cultural Association, after he was summoned to court in the Kurdish-majority city of Sanandaj. Rezaei was ordered to begin serving a one-year prison sentence on charges of “propaganda against the state” for promoting Kurdish-language rights.
In a separate incident, intelligence forces arrested Kurdish siblings Kazhal Rahmani and Danyal Rahmani during coordinated raids in the Kurdish province on Saturday. Rights groups reported that security forces entered their homes without presenting judicial warrants and transferred the detainees to undisclosed locations.
Human rights organizations have warned of intensified repression following recent regional tensions and security developments following the US-Iran War with targeted strikes against regime and military leaders in Iran.
According to Amnesty International, more than 6,000 people have been arrested in Iran since the outbreak of the conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel earlier this year. Those detained reportedly include activists, journalists, protesters, and ordinary citizens accused of sharing information with foreign actors.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Iran carried out 2,063 executions in 2025, the highest annual figure recorded in more than three decades, raising alarm among international rights organizations.
According to Nili, the three lawyers are expected to appeal their convictions in the coming weeks.
