On 27 December 2025, eight Baha’i women from Isfahan were arrested after reporting to Branch 2 of the Sentence Enforcement Office of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court to begin serving their prison sentences. They were transferred to Dolat Abad Prison in Isfahan. The women are Neda Badakhsh, Neda Emadi, Parastou Hakim, Shana Shoghifar, Mojgan Shahrezaie, Negin Khademi, Arezou Sobhanian, and Yeganeh Rouhbakhsh.

The women were collectively sentenced to 90 years’ imprisonment on charges including “propaganda against the regime,” “promoting Baha’i beliefs,” and “participation in promotional and educational activities in contradiction to Islamic law.” Their case was reportedly designated as security-related and confidential. Appeals proceedings were held in absentia, without the defendants present. Among those imprisoned are a mother and her 19-year-old daughter.

Iran does not recognise the Baha’i faith as an official religion, and Baha’is—the country’s largest religious minority—have faced systematic persecution since 1979. The arrests form part of a renewed crackdown on the Baha’i community, amid escalating anti-Baha’i rhetoric by state officials and media. Rights groups report that a significant majority of documented violations against religious minorities in Iran in recent years have targeted Baha’is.