An Iranian blogger, Marzieh "Sevda" Ebrahimi Shamsabadi, has reportedly been sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court after being convicted of "corruption on earth", with charges including insulting Iran's supreme leader and sharing images of missile strike damage with foreign-based media. The case has drawn attention partly because of a haunting final Instagram post she left before her arrest, in which she suggested she was prepared to die for her beliefs, and it comes amid growing international alarm over Iran's use of the death penalty against protesters and dissidents.

The 33-year-old, held in Bandar Abbas Prison, was convicted by Branch 3 of the Bandar Abbas Revolutionary Court on charges that also included alleged intelligence activity for "hostile governments". Alongside the death sentence she reportedly received prison terms of two to five years, confiscation of her property and a ban on accessing certain public services; her lawyer was informed of the ruling on 23 August. She is said to have been held in solitary confinement for 20 days and to suffer from multiple sclerosis and other health conditions that have reportedly worsened in custody, while rights groups say Iran has executed at least 29 people linked to January's protests and recorded 950 executions overall by late August.