This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Persian
Iran has seen a sharp increase in raids on the homes of protesters by the Islamic Republic’s military in recent weeks, with a dramatic rise in demand for the death penalty, several lawyers have told Independent Persian.
Reports indicate that the arrests, often on charges related to participation in Iran’s national uprising, have often proceeded without recourse to any legal or judicial process. Severe charges have been raised at the preliminary indictment stage, some carrying penalties that could include execution and death.
A defence lawyer in the northern Mazandaran province said: “The number of detainees is extremely high and unprecedented compared with any other uprising or protest over the past 47 years. The volume of serious charges and requests for capital punishment by investigating judges is also without precedent.
“For example, in the case of Fa’ezeh Ahmadi, a 27-year-old protester from Mazandaran and a resident of the village of Kardgar-Mahalleh in Fereydunkenar, who was arrested on Thursday 9 January, prosecutors raised the charge of leading a group of protesters during her interrogation.
“She now faces the death penalty on charges of moharebeh (waging war against God), despite the complete absence of evidence in the file.
“My assessment is that they are waiting to see how things settle with Trump, and if the risk of a military strike subsides, they will execute thousands. Even in recent weeks, however, we have received reports of the secret execution of several detainees.”
He added that in these cases, following the secret execution of protesters in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, their bodies were transferred to city mortuaries. Despite evidence of their arrest, officials claimed these protesters had been killed during street clashes and protests.
Another legal professional and defence lawyer from Tabriz told Independent Persian: “In recent weeks, several thousand protesters have been arrested, and cases involving serious charges such as moharebeh are being referred to Branch 15 of the Investigative Court, presided over by Judge Hadi Ghafourian.
“These cases are processed rapidly, with no observance of legal formalities or due process. They are not registered in the judiciary’s electronic case-registration system (SANA) and do not even have case numbers.
“Many of the detainees are under the age of 18. Judges are preventing lawyers from accessing these cases, and the families of detainees are under constant threat of arrest.”
A defence lawyer from the southwest Fars province, also confirming the escalation of night-time home raids, told Independent Persian: “The pattern of arrests has completely changed. Security forces now enter homes at any hour, without judicial warrants, breaking down doors, confiscating phones and laptops, and taking people away blindfolded and beaten. In many of the cases I have reviewed, there is not even a written arrest record.”
According to the lawyer, detainees are transferred to undisclosed detention centres and subjected to intense pressure to obtain forced confessions.
“During interrogations, charges such as moharebeh, corruption on earth, or collaboration with foreign governments are raised without the slightest evidence. The objective is clear: to fabricate ready-made cases for issuing death sentences,” he said.
A defence lawyer in Razavi Khorasan province, which is home to the holy city of Mashhad, also told Independent Persian that the situation of detainees had reached “a dangerous stage”.
“In Mashhad and surrounding cities alone, hundreds of people have been arrested in home raids just over the past 48 hours. Families have no information about where their loved ones are being held, and their repeated visits to prosecutors’ offices and security bodies have gone unanswered”, he explained.
Referring to pressure on families, the lawyer said: “Many families have been explicitly told not to come looking for their children as they will be executed. They are also warned that if they speak to the media or pursue legal representation, the execution will be carried out sooner.
“This is happening even though no court session has been held and no verdict issued. In several cases, officials have threatened to add even more serious charges if families continue to pursue the case.”
Such accounts indicate that following the mass killing of thousands of unarmed civilians during the recent national uprising, the Islamic Republic has now entered a new phase of systematic repression, one in which home raids, mass arrests, total denial of the right to defence, and the levelling of charges carrying the death penalty have become the primary tools of intimidation and terror.
Iranian lawyers warn that if this trajectory continues, in the face of the international community’s silence or indifference, the risk of mass executions of detainees is more grave and imminent than ever.
Source: independent.co.uk, Staff, February 6, 2026
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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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