Iranian woman handed death sentence for ‘blasphemy’ in social media post

Najmeh Amini appealed from prison for international intervention. She was also sentenced to more than 12 years for ‘acting against national security’ and ‘spreading propaganda’ Photograph: Handout

Human rights groups have raised the alarm over the growing number of death sentences and executions in Iran, after reports that a 23-year-old woman, Najmeh Amini, has been sentenced to death for blasphemy over a social-media post.

Amini, an accounting student, is being held in Vakilabad prison in the north-east city of Mashhad. She has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and death in separate cases heard by a revolutionary and a criminal court.