Broken feet, ripped-out hair and now a death sentence: the fate of twin sisters jailed over Iran protests

The twins were 19 and still in high school when they were taken from their beds in the dead of night by masked men later identified as being sent by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. After four months of desperately seeking news from hospitals and state institutions, their mother, Marzieh Nourmohammadi, finally learned their fate. Taraneh and Romina Rahimi had been seized over their decision to join millions on the streets of Iranian cities during the January protests against the regime.

The twins were unrecognisable by the time of their mother’s prison visit in May. The women’s scalps were patchy from being dragged around by their hair, and their faces were bruised, according to their US-based cousin. It is claimed that Taraneh, who dreams of running her own horse stable one day, had been told the prison guards would rape Romina in front of her unless a confession was signed.

The visit by their mother to Dowlatabad prison, in Isfahan, the main city in central Iran, was five months ago. It has now emerged from the Iranian courts that Taraneh has been sentenced to death for her participation in the January protests, and that Romina has been given a 25-year prison sentence. Neither of the women have been seen by their family since the sentencing.

The difference in the sentences remains a mystery, but the twins’ cousin, Masoud Nourmohammadi, who lives in the US state of Utah, said he struggled to understand anything done by the regime. They just sentence and take the kids and execute them and hang them. So I mean, nothing, nothing really makes sense.” Nourmohammadi, 43, said he believed Taraneh was sentenced to death by hanging because of her obvious innocence.

At least 16 women have been among those executed. Hundreds more protesters have either been sentenced to death or are facing charges which could carry the death penalty, including more than 70 in Isfahan. Last month, the UK and 30 other countries signed a joint statement condemning the executions of the January protesters and describing them as an attempt to silence dissent.

Nourmohammadi, a healthcare IT specialist who arrived in the US from Iran 22 years ago, is speaking out despite receiving death threats via text messages and social media from people who say they know his home address. His cousins’ case, he said, should instil a determination to end the Islamic regime. The two women joined the protests on 8 and 9 January in Istafan, along with 18 million others.