Death Penalty News

Four prisoners, including an Afghan national, were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. All four had been sentenced to death under Iran’s qisas (retributive justice) laws on murder charges. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, one of the executed prisoners was identified as Gol Agha Eskandari, an Afghan national. Eskandari had been convicted of murder following a dispute between neighbors in the Khorasan Square area of Tehran in July 2024 and subsequently sentenced to death.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 3 November 2026: State media reported the executions of Amirhossein Maleki and Amirhossein Ebrahimi, two protesters sentenced to death in Isfahan’s “Alikhani Square” case, were executed in Isfahan Central Prison. Since 19 July, nine protesters, including two Afghan nationals, have been executed in connection with the case, which is marred by due process violations, including torture-tainted confessions and testimonies.

Editor's note: This story was translated from the original VOA Persian article. A U.S.-based rights organization says that Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence against a fruit seller convicted in connection with anti-government protests earlier this year. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the media arm of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, reported Monday that the court reached the decision in the case against Arman Marefati. The group also said that two female protesters arrested in connection with the protests have been sentenced to a combined 44 years in prison.

Matters have passed beyond legal concerns in the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, it is equally clear that as long as the Islamic Republic remains standing, regardless of the degree of instability and political lawlessness, the performance of its institutions must be examined. One cannot ignore and leave unspoken a reality that cuts to the bone and inflicts open wounds until the day of reckoning arrives. The institutions of this regime pretend to adhere to the rule of law before the international community. It would be naive to assume that without efforts to expose this lie, global circles will believe otherwise. Before thousands more protesting Iranians are killed, the struggle must continue so that international judicial bodies might better understand these criminals masquerading as lawful authorities, read their hands, and confront them.

Iranian authorities executed Nasser Parvaneh, Ahmad Parviz, and a third prisoner named Farid, whose surname remains unknown, at Qezelhesar Prison in Karaj and Shirvan Central Prison. All three had been sentenced to death for “murder” in separate cases. According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Ahmad Parviz, a former lawyer, was executed at Qezelhesar Prison on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.

Iranian authorities have executed Ahmad Bazvand, a 35-year-old Lor prisoner, in Khorramabad Central Prison despite evidence raising doubts about his responsibility for the killing for which he was sentenced to death. According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Bazvand was executed at dawn on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. A resident of Bazvand village in Pol-e Dokhtar County, he was married and the father of a six-year-old daughter.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 3 October 2026: State media reported the execution of Siavash Jamshidi-Kheirabadi, a protester arrested in connection with the protests in Shahrekord on 8 January. The exact location of the execution has not been specified. Siavash Jamshidi-Kheirabadi is the 32nd individual to be executed in connection with the January nationwide protests since 19 March, representing an average rate of one protester execution per week.

Iranian authorities have executed at least two prisoners, Ali Alizehi, a Baloch man, and Mehrdad Sheikhi, in prisons in Kerman and Isfahan. Both had previously been sentenced to death on charges related to “drug offenses.” Based on information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Alizehi, approximately 43 years old and a father of two from Zahedan, was executed at dawn on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at Kerman Central Prison.

Every resident of a building on Tehran’s Sheikh Hadi Street was arrested after several stones were thrown from its rooftop at repressive forces during the January protests. Months later, four of those detained were sentenced to death, and the Supreme Court has now rejected the appeal of one of the defendants. Information obtained by IranWire confirms that Branch 9 of the Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of Mohammad Reza Majidi-Asl, putting him at immediate risk of execution.

An Iranian court has handed down a death sentence to a man detained in connection with the January 2026 protests in the northeastern city of Shandiz, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Sunday. Hossein Rasouli-Nasab was sentenced by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court on charges including “ moharebeh ,” or waging war against God, HRANA said. The rights group said authorities had alleged that he committed moharebeh through participation in the destruction of public property and setting fire to religious centers. He was also accused of assembly and collusion against national security.

According to rights groups' claims, more than 500 people have been killed by the regime since the protests erupted in January. Ten individuals accused of participating in the January protests have been sentenced to death, while another six received prison sentences of up to 25 years, according to Iranian media reports on Sunday. The sentences were handed down by Judges Morteza Barati and Mohammadreza Tavakoli of Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, according to the Iran Human Rights Society, an independent advocacy group and information network.

A court in Iran has sentenced Leila Abolhassani, a 43-year-old mother of two teenage daughters detained during the January protests in the central city of Shahin Shahr, to death on charges of “waging war against God,” a source familiar with her case told Iran International. The source said Abolhassani was only filming a supermarket fire when she was arrested on the evening of January 8. Branch 5 of Isfahan’s Revolutionary Court nevertheless sentenced her to death on charges of participating in setting fire to the store. Abolhassani, who worked as a nail technician, was transferred following her arrest to Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan, where she has been held for more than seven months.

Iranian authorities have executed nine prisoners, including two Lor and two Baloch men, across prisons in Zahedan, Borujerd, Yazd, Khorramabad, Isfahan and Mashhad. The prisoners, identified as Taha Khavari, Lotfollah Ahmadvand, Omid Shahouzehi, Ali Asghar Salarzehi, Saleh Zeidabadi, Merat Zeidabadi, Mahmoud Talebi, Hossein Hessari and Faramarz Baghbani, had been sentenced to death in separate cases on drug-related or murder charges.

Iranian authorities secretly executed Majid Adineh, who was arrested during the January 2026 protests and subsequently sentenced to death, at a prison in Alborz province. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Adineh was executed at dawn on August 23, 2026, in Karaj.  Mizan, the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, reported the execution and said Adineh had been arrested by forces of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Mohammadshahr area of Karaj during the January 2026 protests.

Rights groups have warned that more teenagers arrested during Iran's January uprising face imminent execution, saying authorities have intensified the use of death sentences against minors as part of a broader execution campaign. In a joint statement on Saturday, the organizations Defenders of Children's Rights in Iran and the Center for Justice for Children said they were deeply concerned that authorities could soon execute 18-year-old Shervin Bagherian from Isfahan.

Iranian authorities executed 20-year-old protester Arvin Kheirkhah at Shahroud prison on Saturday morning, according to information obtained by Iran International, amid concerns that several other detainees could also face execution. Kheirkhah was arrested during the January protests and sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court on charges including moharebeh , or “waging war against God.” He was transferred to solitary confinement on Wednesday ahead of the execution. His family gathered outside Shahroud prison on Friday night in an attempt to stop the sentence from being carried out. According to information received by Iran International, Kheirkhah told his family in a final conversation: “Don’t let them forget me. We stood up for the liberation of our homeland. Don’t let the path we chose be silenced.”

Iranian authorities have executed Ezzat Kazemzadeh, a 33-year-old athlete from Gorgan, at Gorgan Central Prison following his conviction for "premeditated murder." According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Kazemzadeh was executed at dawn on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, after being sentenced to death ( qisas ) by the Islamic Republic's judiciary. Kazemzadeh had been imprisoned for the past four years after being arrested in connection with a street altercation stemming from what was described as an "honor-related" dispute. He was subsequently sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind). 

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.

The two men had brought several injured protesters into a shop to provide them with medical treatment. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 20 July 2026: Mojtaba Dehbandi and Kianush Hamzezadeh-Kazerouni have been sentenced to death by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court for providing medical help to injured protesters during the January nationwide protests. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Mojtaba Dehbandi, 23, and Kianush Hamzezadeh-Kazerouni, 27, were sentenced to death by Branch One of the Shiraz Revolutionary Court on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) through the arson of public buildings and burning a Quran, and action against national security by harbouring protesters. Their preliminary sentence was issued over two months ago. Both men are Shiraz natives and detained in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison.

Iranian authorities executed a Kurdish man convicted on drug-related charges at Tabriz Central Prison. His execution comes one month after the death of his wife, leaving their 12-year-old child without either parent. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Salman Kakehkhani, a Kurdish prisoner from Baneh, was executed at dawn on July 14, 2026, at Tabriz Central Prison. Sources familiar with the case said Kakehkhani was arrested in 2023 by law enforcement authorities on charges related to the transportation and possession of narcotics. He was later sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz.