"Mahvash Sabet—a woman, a poet, and a member of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i minority—has spent years behind bars for nothing more than her identity and her written words. Her imprisonment is an attempt to erase not only her voice, but all voices that challenge repression. We must not let that happen." Judyth Hill, Chair of the Women Writers Committee of PEN International

21 March 2025: Mahvash Sabet, a teacher, poet, and member of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i minority, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence handed down in 2022 after an unjust trial on unfounded charges including ‘espionage’, having already endured a decade behind bars for her faith. Denied adequate medical care, her health has since deteriorated. In December 2024, she was temporarily released on medical grounds following a major surgery, but remains at risk of being sent back to prison. On World Poetry Day 2025, take action with us to set Mahvash Sabet free.

How can you help?

PEN International remains gravely concerned about Mahvash Sabet’s deteriorating health and well-being and calls for her immediate and permanent release, and for her conviction to be quashed.

Advocacy

Please write a letter and emails to the Iranian embassy in your country, expressing concerns about Mahvash Sabet’s deteriorating health and the persecution of Baha'is in Iran. Call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and permanently release her and quash her unjust sentence.

Please contact your country’s ambassador to Iran and ask them to raise Sabet’s case with the Iranian authorities.

You may find addresses of Iranian embassies in your country here.

If there is not an Iranian mission/embassy in your country, you can send your letter and emails to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign affairs here.

You can use your own words, or you can find a template letter here

Solidarity

Please send messages of solidarity to Mahvash Sabet

Send your message

Social Media

Spread the word about Mahvash Sabet’s case on social media. Use the hashtags #MahvashSabet and #InternationalPoetryDay, tagging @peninternational (Instagram), facebook.com/peninternational and https://www.facebook.com/penintmena (Facebook); @peninternational.bsky.social and @penmena.bsky.social (Bluesky).

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Read more about Mahvash’s case

For decades, Mahvash Sabet has faced relentless persecution in Iran, both as a Baha’i and as a woman writer, poet and teacher. She is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence handed down in 2022—her second prolonged incarceration on unjust charges. Between 2008 and 2017, she endured a decade in prison solely due to her religious beliefs, part of Iran’s systematic repression of the Baha’i minority (see Case Lists 2013 – 2019, 2022 and 2023/2024).
In April 2024, a report by Human Rights Watch concluded that Iranian authorities’ ongoing and systematic repression of Baha’is because of their faith amounts to a crime against humanity - persecution. The report also found that Iranian authorities arrest and arbitrarily imprison Baha’is, confiscate their property, restrict their education and employment opportunities, and even deny them dignified burials.
Sabet’s latest imprisonment is linked to her past role as a member of ‘Yaran-i-Iran’ (or ‘Friends of Iran’), a group that had assisted in administering Baha’i community affairs until its dissolution in 2008. On 31 July 2022, Iranian authorities arrested Sabet along with fellowmembers Fariba Kamalabadi and Afif Naemi, accusing them—without evidence—of ‘espionage.’ The Intelligence Ministry claimed they had ties to the Baha’i Centre in Israel and had gathered and transmitted information there. Their arrests came amid a vicious crackdown on the Baha’i community in Iran, where authorities arrested several Baha’i activists, shut down dozens of Baha'i businesses, and demolished their homes.
Despite the gravity of these allegations, their trial lasted a mere hour, during which the judge chastised them for ‘not learning their lesson’ before imposing a harsh penalty. On 21 November 2022, Tehran’s Revolutionary Court (Branch 26) sentenced Sabet and Kamalabadi to 10 years in prison.
In May 2023, PEN International learned that Sabet had been suffering for months from broken kneecaps caused by torture inflicted on her in August 2022 at Evin prison. Authorities have denied her adequate medical care and have subjected her to deplorable detention conditions. PEN International has also learned that she was repeatedly interrogated over the content of her unpublished book, in which she details her previous prison experiences.
The impact of her imprisonment has been devastating. By 2024, denied proper medical care and subjected to harsh prison conditions, Sabet’s health had sharply deteriorated. She suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, osteoporosis, and severe heart problems, among other complications. In December 2024, she was transferred to hospital for urgent treatment and later underwent open-heart surgery. She has since been temporarily released to recover at her home.
Born on 4 February 1953, Sabet was a dedicated educator before being barred from public education following the 1979 Islamic Revolution—a fate shared by thousands of other Baha’i professionals. She worked as a teacher and school principal and contributed to Iran’s National Literacy Committee. Later, she spent 15 years leading the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, which provides alternative learning opportunities for Baha’i students excluded from universities.
Sabet found her voice as a poet while in prison. Her first collection of prison poetry was translated into English and published in 2013, followed by two further volumes: رها (A Tale of Love – More Prison Poems, 2019) and حکایت عاشقی (Love Story, 2021). She has been recognised internationally for her work, named as English PEN’s 2017 Writer of Courage by PEN Pinter Prize winner Michael Longley, and is an honorary member of Austrian PEN and Danish PEN. PEN International has long campaigned for her freedom, including by dedicating an ‘Empty Chair’ to her at its 89th Congress.
For more information about PEN International’s work on Iran, please click here.