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US President Donald Trump has claimed Iran halted the execution of eight women after he demanded that they be spared.
“I have just been informed that the eight women protesters who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed. Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison,” he announced on Truth Social on Wednesday.
Iran’s judiciary-linked Mizan news agency hit back, saying “none of these individuals” received final death sentences and that some had already been released. “Some have charges that, if confirmed, will ultimately result in prison sentences,” Mizan added.
Mr Trump's “empty-handedness” in the war pushed him into making up news about the prisoners, the agency later suggested.
Neither Mizan nor Mr Trump’s statements give a full picture of reality. The US President appears to be giving himself credit for saving the women from imminent death, while Iran's judiciary undermines the seriousness of the women's plight.
At least one has had a confession broadcast on state television, which rights groups say was forced. Others have been missing for months with little to no news on their whereabouts, at a time when observers report deteriorating conditions for political prisoners in Iran.
Adding to the confusion are incorrect reports online that the women are AI creations and do not exist at all. Several rights campaigners and Iranian analysts have confirmed that all the women exist. Activists have documented their condition since they were arrested, most of them at the beginning of this year.
"These are real Iranian women – Bita Hemmati, Diana Taherabadi, Ensieh Nejati, Ghazal Ghalandari, Golnaz Naraghi, Mahboubeh Shabani, Panah Movahedi and Venus Hosseininejad – who had different charges, but not all were sentenced to death," analyst Holly Dagres said in a post on X.
The New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran gathered details about the eight women, most of whom were arrested during or after anti-government protests in January. Tens of thousands were detained during the unrest, which was the most widespread in Iran’s modern history and was met with a crackdown by security forces. At least 7,000 people were killed, according to tallies by rights groups outside Iran. Some reports put the death toll many times higher.
Only one of the women whom Trump claimed had been saved from execution has been given a death sentence by Iran's judiciary, said the Independent Centre for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI).
There is little information on the charges against the women or their whereabouts. During the war with the US and Israel, rights groups have reported Iranian forces moving detainees to unknown locations. Families say normal contact has been cut off during a widespread internet blackout.
Detained or missing
Ms Hemmati is the first woman known to be given a death sentence linked to the January protests, with several men already executed. Ms Hemmati and her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi-Asl, were arrested and sentenced to death about 10 days ago, said the ICHRI, whose team has seen a copy of the verdict. It says the ruling is subject to appeal in the Supreme Court and they have 20 days to file an objection.
According to the Norway-based Hengaw rights organisation, Ms Hemmati and her husband were subjected to “severe physical and psychological pressure during interrogation” to extract forced confessions. It also said they were denied the right to a lawyer of their choosing and the right to a fair trial.
Ms Hosseininejad, 28, a member of Iran’s Bahai community, a religious minority that rights groups say is frequently persecuted. She was arrested in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman on January 15 and state TV broadcast a “confession” that she belonged to an online network influenced by Israel, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group reported. It added that she was released on bail in late March.
Ms Movahedi, a kickboxer, has been missing since January 9, when she attended protests in Tehran. According to information reported by the Bidarzani group, a women’s rights collective, her relatives searched hospitals and morgues looking for her, to no avail. There are no confirmed updates on her situation.
Ms Shabani, meanwhile, was reportedly arrested in the north-eastern city of Mashhad on February 2 and has been held in the city’s Vakilabad Prison. Hengaw reported that she was accused of assisting injured protesters during demonstrations in the city on January 7 and 8, actions that Iranian judicial authorities have used to bring the charge of “waging war against God” against her.
Ms Shabani is accused of using her motorcycle to transport injured protesters to medical centres and hospitals, sources told Hengaw.
Ms Ghalandari, 16, was arrested on January 5 in the southern city of Yasuj when 12 vehicles carrying masked officers arrived at her father’s house without a warrant and “violently” arrested her, the Tavaana civil society organisation said. There is no confirmed information available about the charges she is facing or her whereabouts, the ICHRI said.
Ms Taherabadi, also 16, was arrested in late January in Karaj, outside Tehran, and moved to a nearby correctional facility, the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran reported. The ICHRI said there was no information available on the charges she faces or her whereabouts and condition.
Another of the women, Ms Naraghi, 37, a doctor who went missing for two weeks after her arrest in mid-January. Her location was confirmed at the Qarchak Prison, notorious for its abysmal conditions, said Dadban 2021, a group of volunteer lawyers. There is no confirmed information available about the charges she is facing, the ICHRI said, while the Iran Human Rights group said she had been released on bail.
The ICHRI said it had no verified information about Ms Nejati.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch frequently report serious breaches in Iran's judicial system, including the use of forced confessions, sham trials and imprisonment on spurious and vague charges.
