Najmeh Amini Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy in Iran

Najmeh Amini, a 23-year-old accounting student held in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, has been sentenced to death by a revolutionary court for “sab ol-nabi” (insulting the Prophet). A separate criminal court sentenced her to 12 years, six months and one day for “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime.” The death sentence remains subject to appeal before Iran’s Supreme Court.

The Guardian

Article 262 of Iran’s Islamic penal code makes insulting the Prophet Muhammad or revered Shia figures punishable by death. Article 263 provides exemptions for statements made while intoxicated or without deliberate intent, though offenders may still face up to 74 lashes. According to the Iranian newspaper *Khorasan*, Amini told the court she posted the remarks while hallucinating after taking psychedelic mushrooms, describing the incident as a “slip of the tongue.” The presiding judge rejected this defence, asking why she did not also insult other targets such as the United States or Israel while in the same hallucinatory state.

The Guardian

IHRNGO also reported that more than 600 executions have been carried out in Iran this year, underscoring a broader trend of capital-punishment use.

The Guardian

Amini was arrested during the nationwide protests of January 2026, which were suppressed with a deadly crackdown. Human-rights monitors estimate that over 50,000 people were detained in the aftermath. The protests have been followed by legislative moves to criminalise contact with foreign media and to tighten control over social-media activity deemed “financed by another country.” Executions in Iran have risen to their highest level in three decades, though death sentences for blasphemy remain relatively rare; the last documented execution for a blasphemy-related offence occurred on May 8, 2023, when Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli-Zare were put to death.

The Guardian

• “I am an innocent young girl with so many hopes and dreams,” — Najmeh Amini — Najmeh Amini

The Guardian