On September 20, 2026, an Ahvaz Court sentenced nine Arab women to five years in prison each but made the reduction of their prison terms to one year conditional on their completing a mandatory one-year course described by the court as “thought reform” or “ideological-political correction.” The course, however, amounts to what has been described as brainwashing.
The Revolutionary Court of Ahvaz handed down the sentences after hearing the women’s defenses. The nine women had been arrested more than a year and a half earlier over their activities on social media.
The names of the nine women, all of whom are Sunni Arab citizens, are: Saeedeh Heydari-Rad, Amal Dahimawi, Kowsar Asakereh, Ayat Mohammadi, Fatemeh Savari, Khadijeh Havali, Eftekhar Rostamizadeh, Seyedeh Fatemeh Hosseini, and Ameneh Beit-Sayyah.
They are approximately between 45 and 50 years old, and several of them are heads of household.
The nine women were arrested more than a year and a half ago by intelligence forces because of their activities on social media. They spent several months in intelligence detention facilities under physical and psychological pressure before being released on bail pending the completion of judicial proceedings.
The charges brought against them include “membership in a group or organization,” “propaganda against the state,” and “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against internal or external security.”
A source familiar with the case stated that the women were connected only through a WhatsApp group, where they discussed everyday matters and engaged in no other activities.
The source described the allegations as a case of “fabricated charges” and a tool for increasing pressure on the women. However, details of the court’s evidence and the legal grounds relied upon by the court have not been made public in the available information.
Ahvaz’s “Thought Reform” Brainwashing Courses
These “thought reform” courses are held at the Jafar al-Sadiq Institute in Ahvaz, an institution affiliated with the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to a former prisoner who underwent such courses in recent years, the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court has required some defendants in religious and ideological cases to attend similar programs. According to this individual, those who refuse to participate in the “thought reform” courses must serve their original prison sentences in full. The former prisoner described the courses as a form of brainwashing.
These programs go beyond ordinary educational courses. When participation is imposed by a court and made a condition for reducing a prison sentence, it can function as a means of coercion and pressure on defendants and prisoners. In this context, the pressure extends beyond the deprivation of liberty: by making release or a reduced sentence conditional on participation in an ideologically oriented program, the authorities also place pressure on individuals’ freedom of thought and belief.
