[8] On July 21, 2012, the brothers received the inaugural Elizabeth Taylor Award in Recognition of Efforts to Advocate for Human Rights in the field of HIV during the opening ceremonies of the AIDS 2012 conference.

Six Presidents of the United States, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, leaders of industry, artists, and others are among the remarkable group of individuals to have previously received the award.

[15] Dr. Kamiar Alaei was formerly the executive director of the Iranian NGO Pars Institute[16] working on the prevention, care, and support for carriers of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

[23][24] In 1997, they began running harm reduction and HIV/AIDS prevention care centers targeted toward injecting drug users and prisoners.

These “triangular” clinics provided treatment for STI infections, HIV/AIDS and drug-addiction, offering patients clean needles, methadone, condoms, antiretroviral therapy and other medical services.

[25][26] The World Health Organization named the Alaei's clinics the best-practice model for the Middle East and North Africa.

[27] The doctors and their work were the subject of the 2004 BBC documentary “Mohammad and the Matchmaker.”[15] Prior to their arrest, the brothers were also involved in international health advocacy and global information exchange.

The Alaeis participated in the US-funded people-to-people exchange with Iran in 2006, visiting Tufts-New England Medical Center and other sites with a group of other Iranian doctors.

[19] Regionally, they have held training courses for Afghan and Tajik medical workers and have worked to encourage cooperation among 12 Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries.

The brothers and their attorney, Masoud Shafie, did not know all the charges prior to the trial, were not allowed to review all the evidence and were not given adequate opportunities to refute the prosecution's case.

[44] Many human rights groups have spoken out against the Alaeis' detention, both for the trial's lack of due process and because the charges are believed to be politically motivated.