Iranian political prisoner and Sharif University student Ali Younesi has had an additional five-year prison sentence upheld on appeal, extending his incarceration just months before his previous enforceable sentence was due to end.
The ruling comes as Iran’s new academic year begins and means Younesi will remain behind bars rather than return to university. Younesi and fellow imprisoned Sharif University student Amirhossein Moradi had been expected to complete their enforceable sentences in December 2026, after more than six years in prison without a day of furlough.
The new case was brought against the two students in 2025. Both received an additional 15 months for the charge of “propaganda activities against the system.” Younesi was separately sentenced to another five years over the charge of “endorsing and strengthening Israel.” At the time, the ruling also included transfer to Kerman Prison and restrictions on telephone communications and access to cyberspace. The five-year component of the sentence has now been upheld on appeal.
A new case as his prison term approached its end
The latest ruling follows a new round of prosecution that began as Younesi and Moradi were approaching the end of their existing prison terms.
On August 9, 2025, the judiciary imposed new sentences on both men. They were each given 15 months for “propaganda activities against the system,” while Younesi received the separate five-year sentence. At that point, the two students had already spent more than five years in prison.
The new prosecution came after another period of intensified pressure on Younesi. On June 18, 2025, prison guards forcibly removed him from Ward 4 of Evin Prison. Prison guards beat him before dragging him from the ward and transferring him to an unknown location.
He was subsequently moved between detention facilities. In July 2025, after being taken from Evin, Younesi was transferred first to Fashafouyeh Prison and later to solitary confinement in Qom. He was then subjected to another court proceeding while still serving his earlier sentence.
Six years of imprisonment and mounting pressure
By late 2025, Younesi was being held in Ghezel Hesar Prison. In May 2026, he disclosed that he had received a judiciary notice offering clemency for the remaining seven months of his existing sentence. Younesi rejected the offer, stating that he had never requested a pardon and it is the regime that has to ask for pardon from the people.
Four months later, instead of approaching release, Younesi has had another five-year term confirmed.
His imprisonment dates to April 10, 2020, when he and Moradi were arrested. Younesi was studying computer engineering at Sharif University and had won silver and gold medals in Iran’s National Astronomy Olympiad as well as a gold medal at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Human rights organizations raised concerns about his treatment from the early stages of his detention. Amnesty International reported that Younesi and Moradi were beaten and subjected to prolonged solitary confinement and pressure to make forced “confessions.”
Another academic year behind bars
The appeals ruling changes what had been the immediate prospect of Younesi’s release. His previous enforceable sentence was scheduled to expire in December 2026; instead, the additional five-year sentence means his imprisonment will continue.
It also marks another stage in a case that has included more than six years without furlough, periods of solitary confinement, forcible prison transfers, renewed prosecution while still incarcerated, and restrictions imposed as part of the new sentence. With the beginning of the 2026–2027 academic year, Younesi once again remains in prison rather than returning to Sharif University.