Taraneh and Romina Rahimi were 19, still in high school and living with their mother when masked men came for them in the middle of the night. According to their U.S.-based cousin, the twin sisters were dragged from their beds with bags placed over their heads about a month after they joined anti-regime protests in Isfahan. Their family was given no explanation and spent months searching courts, hospitals and government offices trying to determine where they had been taken.
Four months later, their mother, Marzieh Nourmohammadi, was finally allowed to see them at Dowlatabad Prison. She barely recognized her daughters. ONE GLARING ISSUE GOES UNADDRESSED IN UN CHIEF'S HIGH-STAKES TALKS WITH IRAN'S PRESIDENT Their cousin, Masoud Nourmohammadi, told The Guardian that the twins had badly swollen and bruised faces, injuries to their elbows, hands and feet, and significant hair loss that he said resulted from guards pulling them by their hair as they were moved between cells.
He said their mother also learned that the sisters had been held in solitary confinement. Now 20, Taraneh Rahimi faces execution over her alleged role in the January protests, while her twin sister could spend decades in prison, in a case unfolding amid a sharp rise in Iran’s use of the death penalty. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Taraneh was sentenced to death and an additional 11 years in prison, while Romina received a 36-year sentence.
The sentences were issued by Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court and remain initial-stage verdicts. The twins are among 16 defendants prosecuted in what has become known as the "Isfahan Shohada Square" case. HRANA said 10 defendants received death sentences and the 16 defendants collectively received 256 years in prison.
The sisters’ family says the abuse was intended to force confessions. IRAN JAILS PSYCHOLOGIST OVER TRUMP PLEA AS REGIME DEMANDS HE MAKE AMERICANS ‘LOOK STUPID’: FAMILY Nourmohammadi told The Guardian that Taraneh was threatened that prison guards would rape Romina in front of her unless she signed a confession. The outlet reported that Taraneh later told the court that admissions attributed to her had been obtained through torture.
Her mother was not permitted to attend the trial, according to the family. Radio Farda separately reported, citing Nourmohammadi, that the sisters suffered physical and psychological abuse and were forced to confess to accusations they deny. The Hana Human Rights Organization told Fox News Digital they have verified the torture allegations.
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