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Iran | Executions in Gonbad-e Kavus, Ardabil, Urmia, Karaj

Iranian authorities executed three prisoners at Gonbad-e Kavus Prison and Ardabil Central Prison after convicting them in separate cases of "premeditated murder." Two of those executed were Turkmen.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the death sentences of Javad Mirhasani, 33, and Amirabbas Hatami, approximately 40, were carried out in the early hours of Saturday, July 25, 2026, at Gonbad-e Kavus Prison in Golestan Province.

Sources familiar with the case said the two Turkmen prisoners, who were both held in Ward 3 of the prison, had been transferred to solitary confinement one day earlier in preparation for their executions.

Javad Mirhasani had been imprisoned for five years, while Amirabbas Hatami had spent three years in custody. They had been arrested in separate cases on charges of murder following physical altercations and were sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind) by the Iranian judiciary.

In a separate case, authorities executed Salman Gholami, a 30-year-old Turkish prisoner from a village in Ardabil County, in the early hours of Monday, July 20, 2026, at Ardabil Central Prison. He had been arrested three years earlier on a murder charge stemming from a fight and was also sentenced to qisas.

Iranian state media and media outlets affiliated with the judiciary had not reported the executions.

Execution in Urmia


Iranian authorities executed Sardar Qaderi, a 30-year-old Kurdish prisoner from Mahabad at Urmia Central Prison. He had been sentenced to death for murder.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Qaderi was executed at dawn on July 25, 2026.

Sources familiar with the case said Qaderi was arrested on January 10, 2022, following a dispute over ownership of a 500-square-meter plot of land between him and his cousins. The dispute escalated into a physical altercation in which both sides sustained injuries from bladed weapons. After Qaderi was taken to hospital for treatment, Javamir Ariayi, a commander of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base in Mahabad and the uncle of Qaderi’s cousins, entered the hospital with several Basij members and assaulted him. During the confrontation inside the hospital, Qaderi fatally stabbed Ariayi.

Following his arrest, Qaderi was sentenced to death under Iran’s qisas (retributive justice) laws on a charge of premeditated murder.

Iranian state media and judicial authorities had not publicly announced the execution.

Execution in Karaj


Iranian authorities executed Ayoub Mohebi, a 40-year-old Kurdish prisoner from Nurabad (Delfan), at Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. He had previously been sentenced to death on a charge of "premeditated murder."

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the execution was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at Qezel Hesar Prison.

Informed sources said Mohebi had been arrested four years earlier in connection with an unintentional killing during a street altercation. He was accused of causing the death without prior intent, but the judiciary ultimately sentenced him to death after the victim’s family declined to grant clemency.

Iranian state media and outlets affiliated with the judiciary had not reported the execution.

Source: Hengaw, Staff, July 24-26, 2026




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