Death Penalty News

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 29 July 2026: Branch 23 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court has sentenced 43-year-old Ali Esmaili to death on charges of intelligence cooperation with Israel in a case marred by due process violations. His wife and brother have also been sentenced to imprisonment and heavy fines in the same case. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Ali Esmaili to death on charges of “intelligence cooperation in favour of the hostile Zionist regime” which amounted to moharebeh (enmity against God) and esfsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth). In addition to the death penalty, the court sentenced Ali to three years of imprisonment for allegedly photographing military sites and ordered him to pay a fine equal to three times the value of a seized Starlink receiver.

Hengaw, Saturday, July 4, 2026—During the past calendar month, the death sentences of at least 109 prisoners, including 5 political prisoners, were carried out in various prisons across Iran. This figure represents an increase of at least 10 cases (equivalent to 10%) compared to the same period last year. In June 2025, at least 99 prisoners had been executed in Iranian prisons. The full identities of all 109 executed prisoners have been verified by Statistics and Documentation Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

The Final Letter of a Student Executed Before His Appeal Was Heard The family of Vahid Ben Amerian did not know their son would be executed that morning. No notice arrived from the court. His lawyers were not informed that the sentence would be carried out, even as his case was still pending before Iran’s Supreme Court. The family learned through state media that the top electrical engineering student had been executed on April 4 alongside five other prisoners. Before his execution, Vahid sent his mother a final message: “What greater honor is there than for you and me, Mother, to pay the price of resilience, to endure this pain, and to have made an impact on the fate of our people?”

At least 80 prisoners, including 17 political prisoners, were executed in prisons across Iran during May 2026, according to data compiled by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. The figure represents a decrease of 83 executions, or approximately 51%, compared with the same month in 2025, when at least 163 executions were recorded. Hengaw has verified the identities of 76 of those executed, while the identities of four others remain under investigation. Among those executed was a woman, Esma Zarei, a 28-year-old from Parsabad, who was executed in Ardabil Central Prison after being convicted of murder.

The Islamic regime has used “wartime conditions” as a cover to intensify repression against the Iranian people, according to information reviewed by Amnesty International published earlier this week. In text messages reviewed by Amnesty, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was seen issuing direct warnings that those attempting to break through the regime’s internet restrictions could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act, the punishment for which is often the death penalty. These threats were issued under the framing that ordinary online activity was a threat to national security.

Iran Human RIghts (IHRNGO); 26 May 2026: State media reported the execution of Gholamreza Khani Shekarab, a man accused of intelligence cooperation and espionage for Israel. IHRNGO has established the location of his execution as Ghezel Hesar Prison.  Thus far in 2026, at least ten people have been hanged for alleged espionage and collaboration with Israel, while two others have been executed for spying on behalf of an unidentified Arab country.

An Iranian court has sentenced a man identified by state media as a senior Mossad-linked operative to death. According to Fars News Agency, the judiciary said Gholamreza Khani Shekarab acted as an external coordinator for an alleged intelligence network that operated inside Iran, directing what authorities described as sabotage activities across several provinces, News.Az reports. State media reported that the network was involved in efforts to create insecurity, spread fear, disrupt public order and essential services, and carry out propaganda operations in favour of hostile actors. It also alleged involvement in targeted assassination plots.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 21 May 2026: Gholamreza Khani Shekarab, a man on death row for accusations of espionage for Israel, is at risk of execution after being transferred to the solitary confinement cells of Ghezel Hesar Prison from Evin Prison. According to information obtained by IHRNGO, Gholamreza Khani Shekarab was transferred from Evin Prison to the solitary confinement cells of Ghezel Hesar Prison on 7 May 2026.  Given that prisoners are typically transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison for execution, the transfer has raised grave concerns that his execution may be imminent.

An Iranian political prisoner sentenced to death on charges of “espionage and collaboration with a hostile state (Israel)” is at imminent risk of execution after being transferred to solitary confinement, the Norway-based rights group Hengaw said on Wednesday. Gholamreza Khani Shakarab, 34, a former MMA champion, coach and international referee, was moved from a high-security ward in Tehran’s Evin Prison to solitary confinement in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, Hengaw said. The case comes amid a widening wartime crackdown in Iran, where authorities have intensified arrests, executions and threats against dissent while repeatedly warning that criticism could aid the country’s enemies.

Iranian authorities secretly executed two Iraqi nationals, Ali Nader al-Obeidi and Fazel Sheikh Karim, in Karaj Central Prison during the final days of the 40-day war involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. The two men had previously been sentenced to death in a joint case on charges of allegedly spying for one of the Arab countries in the region. According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out in the early hours of Monday, April 6, 2026. The two men, both Arab residents of the Iraqi city of Amarah, were identified as 27-year-old Ali Nader al-Obeidi and 29-year-old Fazel Sheikh Karim.

Hengaw – Tuesday, May 19, 2026—Iranian authorities executed a prisoner from Shiraz identified as Saeid Rahmanirad, who had previously been sentenced to death on charges of premeditated murder by the Iranian judiciary, at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the execution was carried out at dawn on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at Shiraz Central Prison, commonly known as Adelabad Prison. Rahmanirad, 30, had been convicted of “premeditated murder” by the Iranian judiciary.

The line is crackly. But the voice of Mehrab Abdollahzadeh is clear and, given the circumstances, surprisingly steady. He's on death row in western Iran. He speaks quickly - as if time is running out. And his message is desperate. "You are hearing my voice from Oromiyeh Central Prison, and this may be the last time you hear it," he says in a voice note obtained by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency, Tehran's judiciary said on Wednesday. Ehsan Afrashteh, 32, was arrested in 2024 and sentenced to death in 2025 on espionage charges. Mizan Online, which is affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, reported early Wednesday that Afrashteh had been executed. The outlet claimed that he was trained in Nepal by Mossad to work as a spy and had sold “sensitive national information” to Tel Aviv.

Hengaw – Tuesday, May 12, 2026. Iranian authorities have secretly executed Baloch political prisoner Abduljalil Shahbakhsh at Zahedan Central Prison just 55 days after his arrest during the 40-day war involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. Shahbakhsh, from Taftan County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, had been accused of “baghi” (armed rebellion) through alleged membership in Ansar al-Furqan, as well as espionage for Israel. Detailed information regarding his case remains limited. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Shahbakhsh was executed at dawn on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, without prior notice to his family. Legal examination of the case indicates that the judicial process leading to his execution was carried out in complete opacity and accompanied by serious violations of fair trial standards, including denial of access to an independent lawyer throughout both interrogation and court proceedings.

Iranian authorities have secretly executed Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old political prisoner, satellite technology researcher, and top-ranked aerospace engineering graduate student at Iran University of Science and Technology, at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj following nearly two years of detention on espionage-related charges. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the execution was carried out in secret at dawn on Monday, May 11, 2026, at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.

TEHRAN, May 7: A law approved in Iran last October has accelerated death penalty proceedings by granting judges broad authority to interpret espionage and treason cases, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing Iranian human rights lawyer Amir Raesian. Raesian said the legislation uses vague wording that gives courts wide discretion in capital cases. “Terms in the new law, such as ‘any operational acts’, give judges an almost unlimited scope for interpretation, allowing them to issue death sentences without restriction,” he was quoted as saying. He added that the law has led to harsher verdicts and faster judicial proceedings.

Iran's security agents secretly buried the body of Iranian-Swedish citizen Kourosh Keyvani in the Khavaran area outside Tehran after he was executed in March on charge of spying for Israel, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International. The sources said Keyvani was executed on the morning of March 18 without his family being informed, and his body was buried on March 23 in Khavaran. Keyvani’s family later tried to mark the unmarked gravesite by placing stones nearby, but authorities removed them to prevent the burial location from being identified, the sources told Iran International.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 4 May 2026: Jamal Hassanzadeh, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Rasht Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 29 April 2026. His identity has been established as Jamal Hassanzadeh, a 37-year-old father of one. Informed sources told IHRNGO that he been arrested four years ago on murder charges following an unintentional altercation and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 4 May 2026: State media reported that Ebrahim Dolatabadinejad, Mehdi Rasouli and Mohammadreza Miri, three protesters arrested in connection with the 8 and 9 January protests in Mashhad, were executed at an undisclosed location. Since 18 March, at least 24 political prisoners and four people accused of espionage, have been executed. 13 of the executed political prisoners were protesters, 12 of whom were arrested in connection with the January protests, and one in relation with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

Iran has executed two more individuals on charges of “spying for Israel”, as a new wave of executions continues in the country. The development comes as Iran’s judiciary chief dismissed international pressure to halt executions, saying authorities would show “no leniency” in carrying out sentences. According to Iranian media, Yaqoub Karimpour and Nasser Bakarzadeh were executed after being convicted of cooperation with Israel.