Death Penalty News

The January 2026 nationwide protests resulted in killings, arrests, and severe judicial sentences for a segment of Iran’s athletic community. Several athletes from football, wrestling, martial arts, and mountaineering who joined the demonstrations were killed by Islamic Republic security forces, while a large number were detained. Now, nearly nine months after the protests, several detained athletes continue to face the threat of execution.

Senior Emirati source says Mossad and Israeli aviation experts joined the Abu Dhabi probe alongside Saudi, Omani and US intelligence officials, as investigators examine claims he planned to seize the cockpit and strike Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Towers The man suspected of trying to turn a Flydubai passenger jet into a weapon is expected to face the death penalty in the United Arab Emirates once the investigation is completed, according to a senior Emirati source. But before that happens, investigators in Abu Dhabi will have to answer a far more uncomfortable question: How was Hamam al-Hammami allowed anywhere near a cockpit? 

A man was executed in Iran for passing information about Iranian missile sites to Israeli intelligence services during the war, the judiciary reported Saturday. ’’The death penalty was carried out against Hossein Pedaran, who had provided the Mossad with information on missile sites in Isfahan province,’’ in central Iran, Mizan, the Iranian judiciary’s news outlet, reported. The judiciary accused Pedaran of ‘‘espionage and intelligence cooperation’’ on behalf of Israel but did not provide information about the date of his arrest or his trial. It said the death sentence had been ‘‘confirmed by the Supreme Court.’’ The case had not previously been reported by Iranian media.

Iranian authorities executed Omid Behzad, a Kurdish university student from Urmia, and Pouria Safvat, a Turkish prisoner, at Urmia Central Prison after the two were arrested during Iran’s 40-day war on charges of “spying for Israel (Mossad),” according to new information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Their bodies have not been returned to their families. The executions were carried out at dawn on August 3, 2026, at Urmia Central Prison . Omid Behzad’s execution was carried out despite the fact that Iran’s Supreme Court had overturned his death sentence on August 1, 2026.

Iran secretly executes Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat on espionage charges Iranian authorities have secretly executed Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, two prisoners who were arrested during the 40-day war and sentenced to death on charges of “spying for Israel (Mossad).” According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out secretly at dawn on August 3, 2026. Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency confirmed the executions but did not disclose where the sentences were carried out.

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.

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.

Eichmann was hanged at midnight between May 31 and June 1, 1962. He was the only person executed in Israel after a full civilian judicial process Adolf Eichmann , one of the key architects of the Holocaust , was captured by Mossad agents on May 11, 1960, in Argentina and flown to Israel for trial. Originally born in Solingen, Germany, Eichmann moved with his family to Austria but later returned once the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. During his time as part of the SD (Sicherheitsdienst) - the Nazi Security Service, he was involved in the surveillance of Jewish organizations. In 1937, he visited the British Mandate of Palestine to promote the Zionist emigration of Jews from Germany. This experience would later prove instrumental when he was appointed head of the Gestapo’s Jewish Affairs division at the outset of World War II.

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.

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 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.

Iran has executed two men for alleged Mossad spying and protest-linked "chaos". Following the recent string of executions, rights groups have accused the Iran administration and judiciary of holding opaque trials and forced confessions. Iran has carried out two separate executions in recent days, putting to death individuals accused of links to Israel and involvement in anti-government unrest. The executions are part of the Iranian authorities’ wider crackdown that has drawn heavy flak from rights groups.

Iran has ramped up its executions since the outbreak of war with Israel and the US, putting to death 9 people linked to the protests since mid-March TEHRAN — Iran on Saturday executed a man for his role in mass anti-government protests in January, claiming he was carrying out a “mission” on behalf of Israel’s spy agency, the judiciary reported. It is the latest in a string of executions since war broke out with Israel and the United States. Erfan Kiani was hanged after his sentence was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Thursday executed another prisoner, citing alleged ties to Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, as well as to an exiled opposition group, a media affiliate of the Iranian judiciary reported. This comes as Tehran has in recent weeks executed more than a dozen detainees, including individuals arrested during nationwide anti-government protests in January. Mizan Online relayed that Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged after he “was convicted on charges of moharebeh [waging war against God] through membership in the terrorist [Mojahedin Khalq Organization] MKO/MEK group.”

DPN — Iranian authorities executed two men at dawn Monday on charges of espionage and cooperation with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the judiciary’s official news outlet reported. The men, identified by the Mizan news agency as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi, were hanged following convictions for " moharebeh " — or waging war against God — and collaboration with "the Zionist regime." The executions were carried out after the country’s Supreme Court upheld their death sentences.

The 18th Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, published by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), reveals an unprecedented escalation in the use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2025.  At least 1,639 people were executed, marking the highest number of recorded executions since 1989 and a dramatic 68% increase compared to 2024, when 975 executions were recorded. This is the continuation of the execution surge that began after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” nationwide protests in 2022, illustrating the authorities’ continued reliance on the death penalty as a tool to instil fear and deter new protests.

Iran has reportedly carried out the execution of a man it accused of espionage for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The man was executed on Wednesday, March 18, marking the first such death penalty carried out since the outbreak of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Tehran. Sweden confirmed the executed individual held Swedish citizenship, prompting sharp condemnation from Stockholm and a diplomatic summons for Iran’s ambassador.