Iran | Political Prisoner Zahra Shahbaz Tabari Resentenced to Death at Retrial

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 2 June 2026: Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a female political prisoner and electrical engineer detained in Rasht Central Prison, has been resentenced to death on the charge of baghy (armed rebellion) through affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) by the Revolutionary Court.

Since 30 March, at least 13 political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups have been executed in Iran. Of those, nine were affiliated with the PMOI/MEK, two to Baluch groups and two to Kurdish groups.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Zahra Shahbaz Tabari was resentenced to death by Judge Darvish Goftar on 28 May 2026, the same Rasht Revolutionary Court judge that issued her original death conviction. Her initial sentence on charges of baghy (armed rebellion) through affiliation with the PMOI/MEK had been overturned by the Supreme Court on 26 January 2026, and her case was referred back to the same court for retrial.

An informed source told IHRNGO: “It was more an interrogation than a trial. The judge left the room after twenty minutes and a security officer stayed for the remaining ten minutes, clearly showing the hands of IRGC security infiltrating the courts and influencing the decisions.”

Zahra Shahbaz Tabari is a 67-year-old electrical engineer, a member of Iran’s Engineering Organisation and holds a master’s in Sustainable Energy from the University of Borås in Sweden. She was arrested at her home on 16 April 2025 and transferred to Rasht Central Prison after security agents searched the residence and seized phones and a laptop. Her family reported that the case rested on scant, unreliable material, a cloth bearing the slogan “Woman, Resistance, Freedom” and an unpublished voice message, with no evidence of organisational or military links. Authorities attempted to introduce more serious allegations, including weapons possession, which the family described as absurd and unfounded.

Branch 1 of the Rasht Revolutionary Court held a videoconference hearing that her family says “lasted less than ten minutes,” and Judge Ahmad Darvish Goftar sentenced her to death for the charges of baghy through affiliation with the PMOI/MEK in October 2025. According to her son, “The judge announced the death sentence with a smile. The court-appointed lawyer also smiled when he heard the result.”

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 2, 2026

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