The election of new Iranian president Hassan Rohani, a subordinate-level cleric, has led to much conjecture in Western media about his possible moderation in domestic, foreign and especially nuclear policy. But news of heavy prison sentences against seven spiritual Sufi webmasters and lawyers, held without trial since 2011, indicates continued repression as the path his administration will follow.

Judgments against the seven members of the Gonabadi-Nimatullahi metaphysical movement, a Shia Muslim body, were announced on July 15. The Gonabadi Sufis are the most prominent “public” Sufi group in Iran. As a leading country in the development of Sufism, Iran includes millions of adherents to the tradition, but many—for centuries before the rise of the clerical dictatorship in Tehran—have maintained public silence about their identity.