Political prisoner Alireza Malekzadeh sentenced to 15 years under aggravated espionage law

Branch 26 of Tehran's Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, has sentenced Alireza Malekzadeh, a political prisoner held in Greater Tehran prison, to 15 years in prison. The charge against him was given as "sending images and coordinates of locations", and the verdict was served on him on Saturday, 10 October 2026.

According to a source close to the political prisoner's family, quoted by HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, the penalty for this charge under the Islamic Penal Code would have been five years in prison; but Judge Afshari, citing the "law on aggravating the punishment for espionage", tripled the sentence.

Arrested in the days of war

Alireza Malekzadeh was arrested by security forces in February–March 2026, amid the security climate after the war began, and then transferred to Greater Tehran prison. No further details about his age, city of residence or background have been published, and it is not clear whether he has appealed the verdict.

Espionage charges: a tool for heavy sentences

Alireza Malekzadeh's case is an example of a pattern seen in the revolutionary courts since the start of the war: sending a photo or the location of a place, labelled "espionage", leads to long prison terms, and the law that aggravated the punishment has left judges free to multiply sentences.

Alireza Malekzadeh's sentence comes in a week in which the Islamic Republic's judiciary has also enforced other heavy sentences against political prisoners, including the summons of Babak Moradifar to serve a 30-month prison sentence and warnings about the risk of a death sentence for Amirhossein Mousavi at Tehran's Revolutionary Court.

A five-year penalty became 15 years in prison by invoking the aggravated espionage law.