Masoud Farhikhteh
Age: 60
Activism/rights: Teachers’ trade union activist
Status: Imprisoned in Karaj Central Penitentiary
Judicial status: Sentenced to a total of 4 years, 6 months, and 1 day of imprisonment
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of a fair trial and due process; denial of access to a lawyer; prolonged solitary confinement; denial of telephone contact and family visits; denial of medical care
Masoud Farhikhteh, a school teacher, a member of the Islamshahr Teachers’ Trade Union, and a member of the Coordinating Council and the committee for negotiating the release of detained teachers, has for years been active in advocating for free and quality education for students, improving teachers’ living conditions, and securing the release of imprisoned teachers. He has been repeatedly summoned and arrested since 2017. In 2022, Massoud travelled to Sanandaj to negotiate with the Director General of the Kurdistan Department of Education and to support imprisoned teachers. He was arrested prior to the Teachers’ Day gathering on 1 May and was released on bail on 11 May. The following day, however, security forces raided his home and arrested him again. He was temporarily released on bail on 8 June of the same year. In September 2022, this member of the Teachers’ Trade Association was sentenced by Branch 2 of the Criminal Court of the Vali-Asr Judicial Complex in Tehran to one year’s imprisonment and 74 lashes for participating in unauthorised gatherings. He was arrested on 3 December in front of the Alborz Province Department of Education. Massoud, who was transferred to the security ward 209 of Evin Prison, was later moved on 7 January 2023 to Ward 6 of Greater Tehran Prison and was temporarily released on 1 February 2023. On 1 May 2023, he rearrested during a raid by security forces on his home in Karaj. After 23 days of detention in solitary confinement in Evin Prison and two days in Ghezelhesar Prison, he was released. In April 2024, the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court charged Massoud with “propaganda against the system” for participating in protests, delivering speechesand supporting imprisoned teachers, and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. Due to the absence of a prior criminal record, this sentence was converted into a monetary fine. The Kurdistan Province Court of Appeal later acquitted him of these charges.
On 18 December 2024, Branch 2 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court sentenced Massoud to six years’ imprisonment on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the system”, together with a two-year ban on participation in groups, a travel ban, and a ban on residing in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, Lorestan, and Kurdistan. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to three years, six months, and one day’s imprisonment. On 16 September 2025, during the general assembly of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations in Shahreza, he was arrested alongside other trade union activists and transferred two days later from Isfahan to Karaj Penitentiary. In October 2025, after publishing a statement from prison, he was held in solitary confinement for 12 days and temporarily denied contact with his family. In December 2025, Masoud announced that he had joined the “No Death Penalty Tuesdays” movement and had been participating in the weekly hunger strikes. Consequently, he was transferred to solitary confinement for the third time in two months. On 29 January 2026, together with several political prisoners, he issued a joint statement condemning the widespread and violent suppression of the nationwide January 2026 protests and expressing solidarity with them.
On 17 March 2026, Masoud Farhikhteh began a three-day hunger strike in protest against the Iranian Prisons Organization’s failure to address prisoners’ conditions of detention and treatment in custody. On 16 September 2026, it was announced that Branch Two of the Karaj Revolutionary Court had sentenced Masoud Farhikhteh to an additional one year of imprisonment on the charge of “propaganda against the state” in a new criminal case initiated against him during his imprisonment. According to his defence lawyer, Ramin Safarnia, the court also imposed supplementary penalties consisting of a two-year travel ban, a two-year prohibition on membership in political parties and political or civil society organisations, and disqualification from government and public service.
In October 2026, Farhikhteh and fellow political prisoner Zartosht Ahmadi-Ragheb went on hunger strike to protest the imposition and implementation of death sentences. They ended their hunger strike on 16 October 2026, following appeals from fellow teachers, trade union activists and civil society advocates. Farhikhteh remains imprisoned in Ward 16/2 of Karaj Central Penitentiary, serving his prison sentence. He has been denied telephone contact and visits from family. Despite suffering from a thyroid condition, he has also been denied access to adequate medical care while in detention.