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Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a poet charged with “armed rebellion” and "waging war against God," a human rights group reported.
Peyman Farah-Avar was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in Rasht, according to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.
He also received an additional three-month prison term for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic."
Hengaw said the Supreme Court recently confirmed the sentence.
Farah-Avar, who writes under the pen name "Sheyda," was arrested in September 2024 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence unit in Rasht.
The charges stemmed from his protest activities against state agencies over environmental destruction in Gilan province.
According to Hengaw, Farah-Avar was held for two months at an intelligence facility, where he was tortured and denied access to legal counsel. He was later transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht.
His trial was held on May 1, 2025, at Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht, presided over by Judge Ahmad Darvish-Goftar. Hengaw said he was denied legal representation during the proceedings.
Farah-Avar has written works criticizing environmental destruction, unchecked construction, and government policies that he argued have impoverished local farmers in Gilan, forcing them to sell their land to outside buyers.
