IRAN sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to over seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, supporters said on Sunday.

This comes as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security forces.

The new convictions against Ms Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear programme to avert a threatened military strike by US President Donald Trump.

Iran’s top diplomat insisted on Sunday that Tehran’s strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers,” striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US.

Ms Mohammadi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed the sentence on X, saying it had been handed down Saturday by a Revolutionary Court in the city of Mashhad.

Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or no opportunity for defendants to contest their charges.

“She has been sentenced to six years in prison for ‘gathering and collusion’ and one-and-a-half years for propaganda and a two-year travel ban,” he wrote.

She received another two years of internal exile to the city of Khosf, some 460 miles south-east of Tehran, the capital, the lawyer said.

Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, wrote on X that Ms Mohammadi’s sentence was “a reflection of the skyrocketing lethal repression against dissent and protests waged by the authorities.”

Iran did not acknowledge the sentence.

Supporters say Ms Mohammadi has been on a hunger strike since February 2 and ended it Sunday after her sentencing over her worsening health.

She had been arrested in December at a ceremony honouring Khosrow Alikordi, an Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate who had been based in Mashhad.

Footage from the demonstration showed her shouting, demanding justice for Mr Alikordi and others.