Iran | Protester Amir Ali Mir Jafari Hanged for Arson; 8th January Protester Execution

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 21 April 2026: State media reported the execution of Amir Ali Mir Jafari, a protester arrested in relation to the January 2026 protests in Tehran. He was accused of setting fire to the Gholhak Jame Mosque and attacking officers while carrying a cold weapon.

Yesterday, following the executions of two political prisoners, IHRNGO once again warned of further executions of political prisoners and protesters in the coming days and weeks. Hundreds of protesters are currently facing death penalty charges, with at least 30 having already been sentenced to death. IHRNGO reiterates that a complete halt to all executions must be a central demand in any negotiations or agreements with the Islamic Republic.

According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, a January 2026 protester named Amir Ali Mir Jafari was hanged at an undisclosed location on 21 April 2026. He was sentenced to death on unspecified charges through “carrying out operational acts for the Zionist regime, the hostile US government, and hostile groups against national security through the arson of the Gholhak Jame Mosque and public property, and attacking officers while carrying a cold weapon (a short machete).”

The Supreme Court upheld his death sentence relying heavily on his own "confessions" and self-incriminating statements, a routine tactic by the Islamic Republic judiciary, which frequently extracts such confessions under torture and duress. By baselessly linking his participation in the January protests to Israel and the US, the Islamic Republic continues its strategy of framing domestic civil unrest as foreign espionage to expedite the execution of protesters.

Videos posted online at the time confirm that the Gholhak Jame Mosque was set on fire on 8 January. It is not clear when Amir Ali was arrested, however, and no independent information is available concerning him or his case.

Amir Ali is the eighth protester executed in relation to the nationwide January 2026 protests. Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi were hanged in Qom Central Prison on 19 March. Amirhossein Hatami, was hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 2 April. Amirhossein Hatami’s co-defendants, Mohammad Amin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast were also hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 5 April, and Ali Fahim was hanged at the prison on 6 April.

It is important to note the stark acceleration in the state’s use of the death penalty against protesters. While it took over a year for the Islamic Republic to execute eight “Woman, Life, Freedom” protesters, the current executions have taken place in just over three months.

Source: iranhr.net, Staff, April 21, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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