Iran sentences two more protesters to death as executions surge

Two more protesters detained during Iran’s nationwide demonstrations in January have been sentenced to death, US-based rights group HRANA reported, amid a rise in executions and capital sentences following the unrest.

Hossein Nazari, 25, was sentenced to death by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, HRANA reported Wednesday. He is being held in the city’s Vakilabad Prison.

HRANA said Nazari was convicted of “contact with hostile governments and groups” and “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against national security.” The sentence was issued in July.

Nazari was arrested by security forces during the January protests and transferred to Vakilabad Prison after interrogation and judicial proceedings.

His case was reported a day after HRANA said Amir Mohammad Majallal Choubari, 22, another protest detainee, had also been sentenced to death.

Majallal Choubari was arrested in Tehran on January 2 during the nationwide demonstrations and transferred to Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of the capital.

He had previously faced charges at Branch 33 of Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, which handles security-related cases.

The charges included “assembly and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against national security,” disrupting public order, attempting to intentionally kill officers by trying to run them over and resisting officers.

Continued crackdown

The sentences come amid a sharp increase in executions and the use of capital punishment against protesters and political prisoners.

The US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center said Wednesday it had documented 950 executions in Iran since the beginning of 2026, including at least 20 women and 30 protesters. It said 45 executions had been recorded in August so far.

The group said Iran’s use of the death penalty takes place within a judicial system marked by unfair proceedings, lack of transparency, and political influence.

It said systematic violations of fair-trial guarantees meant executions could amount to arbitrary deprivation of life under international law.

Iran International reported in late July that rights groups estimated around 100 political prisoners and protesters had received death sentences, while hundreds more faced charges that could carry the death penalty.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said earlier this month that Iran was using executions to "instill fear among the population and suppress dissent,” while raising concerns about torture-tainted confessions, rushed proceedings, and a persistent lack of fair-trial guarantees.

Source: Iran International, Staff, August 26, 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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