Death Penalty News

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.

Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported the issuance of death sentences for two brothers, Hadi and Fazlollah Nikbakht, warning that both are at imminent risk of execution. Their other brother, Mohammad Nikbakht, is also facing charges that could potentially lead to a capital sentence. According to the report, Hadi and Fazlollah Nikbakht were sentenced to death approximately two weeks ago by the Revolutionary Court of Golpayegan on charges of “corruption on earth.” The two brothers were arrested at their home in Golpayegan on October 24, 2025, after they attempted to prevent the confiscation of their agricultural land. Following two months of absolute incommunicado detention, they were transferred to Isfahan Central Prison, also known as Dastgerd Prison.

For Iran’s Kurdish population, the death penalty is not only a criminal-justice issue. It is part of a larger architecture of state control, political intimidation, and national-security repression that has followed the Kurdish question since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Kurdish activists, religious prisoners, protesters, and ordinary prisoners are pulled into a judicial system where the state often controls the accusation, the interrogation, the confession, the court narrative, and, finally, the rope.

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.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 2 June 2026: Zahra Shahbaz Tabari, a female political prisoner and electrical engineer detained in Rasht Central Prison, has been resentenced to death on the charge of baghy (armed rebellion) through affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) by the Revolutionary Court. Since 30 March, at least 13 political prisoners affiliated with banned opposition groups have been executed in Iran. Of those, nine were affiliated with the PMOI/MEK, two to Baluch groups and two to Kurdish groups.

At least 43 political and conscience prisoners have been executed in prisons across Iran since the beginning of 2026, according to statistics documented by the Statistics and Documentation Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.  During the same period, another 42 political and conscience activists have received either preliminary or final death sentences. Documented findings gathered by Hengaw indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sharply escalated the issuance and implementation of death sentences against political and conscience dissidents in recent months.

Hengaw warns of imminent execution of Erfan Soltani just days after arrest  Erfan Soltani, a resident of Fardis, Karaj, who was arrested during recent protests in the city, is facing the imminent execution of a death sentence following a rapid and opaque judicial process. His family learned only days after his arrest that the execution is scheduled to take place this Wednesday.  According to reports received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old detainee arrested in connection with the ongoing protests, is at immediate risk of execution. His family has been denied access to any information regarding the charges, case file, or judicial proceedings. 

HAVANA TIMES – On August 24, the people of Ciego de Avila woke up to the alarming news that two “high-risk” inmates had escaped from Canaleta prison. That penitentiary is located roughly halfway between the cities of Ciego de Ávila and Moron, home to two-thirds of the province’s residents. One of the fugitives was serving a 28-year sentence for homicide and other crimes; his accomplice had been sentenced to 16 years for violent offenses, illegal possession of weapons, and robbery.

One hundred people were executed in July, more than double the number of people executed in July of last year, according to the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights. More than 800 people have been executed in Iran since the start of the year, the UN said Friday, decrying "a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation". The United Nations rights office said there had been a "major increase in executions during the first half of 2025".

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 16, 2025: Branch 39 of Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty of political prisoner, Sharifeh Mohammadi despite leaving unaddressed the same flaws that had previously led to the ruling being overturned. Reiterating that the Islamic Republic is determined to execute political prisoners and espionage defendants following the 12-day Israel-Iran war, Iran Human Rights once again warns of the imminent danger of their execution. IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “All political and security death row prisoners are currently at serious risk of execution. It is vital that their families and lawyers publicise their cases, and that the public, civil society and the international community work to halt the Islamic Republic’s execution machine by increasing its political cost.”

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 9, 2025: Ali Akbar Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Baniamerian and Babak Alipour, five death row political prisoners, were forcibly transferred from the Greater Tehran Penitentiary to the solitary confinement cells of Ghezel Hesar Prison*. Stressing that the majority of Tehran and Alborz province executions are carried out in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Iran Human Rights expresses concern that preparations may be underway to carry out the death sentences of these political prisoners. On 27 July, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, two political prisoners on death row for the same charges as the five political prisoners, were secretly executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 8, 2025: Babak Shahbazi, a prisoner on death row for espionage for Israel, has been transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison, where the majority of death row prisoners are executed in Alborz and Tehran provinces. On 5 August, IHRNGO published the profiles of 67 death row prisoners and warned of the risk of 22 of the defendants including Babak Shahbazi being executed. Of the 67, Rouzbeh Vadi was executed on 6 August. Iran Human Rights once again warns that without a strong public and international response, we may face a new wave of executions targeting political prisoners and espionage defendants in the coming weeks.

According to human rights sources, the Iranian regime executed at least 110 individuals in prisons across the country last month (July 2025). Alongside this wave of executions, the issuance or confirmation of death sentences for political prisoners has intensified, and at least 67 individuals charged with political offenses are currently at risk of execution. On Tuesday, July 27, the Iran Human Rights Organization reported that at least 110 individuals were executed in July 2025. Among those executed were nine Baluch citizens, seven Afghan nationals, four Kurdish citizens, three Arab citizens, and one woman.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 6, 2025: Esmail Hajivand and Farzad Yari, two men on death row for murder, were executed Malayer Prison. According to HRANA News Agency, a man was hanged in Malayer Prison on 28 July 2025. His identity has been reported as 44-year-old Esmail Hajivand who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. Another was executed at the prison on 5 August. His identity has been reported as Farzad Yari who was also on death row for murder.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 19, 2025: Manouchehr Fallah and Peyman Farahavar, two political prisoners sentenced to death without due process and fair trial rights, are currently awaiting the Supreme Court decision in Rasht Central Prison. IHRNGO draws the international community and public’s attention to the case of the two political prisoners who are at potential risk of execution. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Manouchehr Fallah (right) and Peyman Farahavar (left), two political prisoners held in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison, are awaiting the Supreme Court’s decisions in their cases.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 16, 2025: Massoud Jamei, Alireza Mardasi and Farshad Etemadifar, three political prisoners in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison, have each received two death sentences for charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and membership of opposition groups. Massoud Jamei is being “denied treatment for colon cancer outside the prison.” According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Branch 1 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Adibimehr, has sentenced three political prisoners held in Ahvaz Sheiban Prison to death.

Hengaw – Tuesday, July 15, 2025 -- The Ahvaz court of the Islamic Republic of Iran has sentenced five political prisoners — including two Arab prisoners and one Lor prisoner — to a total of six death sentences and 30 years in prison on charges such as “corruption on earth” (fasad-fi al-ard), “membership in opposition groups,” and “propaganda against the state.”  According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Farshad Etemadifar, a Lor man from Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, along with two Arabs from Ahvaz — Masoud Jamei (Bavi) and Alireza Mordasi (Hamidawi) — were each sentenced by Branch 1 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Adibimehr, to two death sentences and one year in prison. 

On April 29, 2025, Iran witnessed a fresh wave of nationwide protests as citizens from diverse sectors and regions rallied against what they described as systemic injustice, economic mismanagement, and government repression. From Khuzestan to Tehran, Zanjan to Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, demonstrators demanded urgent changes, accountability, and basic rights. In Tehran, patients suffering from immune deficiency disorders staged a protest in front of the Food and Drug Organization, citing shortages and the high cost of IVIG, a critical medication. Despite repeated demonstrations, the crisis persists, and protesters say government pledges have gone unfulfilled.

Introduction: 49 Lives on the Brink of Death Imagine a 12-year-old child, with small hands and eyes full of dreams that never had the chance to blossom, confined for years in a cold cell with the shadow of the gallows looming overhead. Recall a 70-year-old father, his body worn by illness and the scars of torture yet unyielding, standing tall with a heart full of hope for justice, awaiting execution. These are real glimpses into the lives of 49 freedom-seeking individuals across Iran—from Kurdistan to Baluchistan, from Ahvaz to Tehran, and from Khorasan to Isfahan.

At least 975 people were executed in Iran in 2024, a staggering 17% increase from the 834 executions recorded the previous year, according to a joint report released by the Iran Human Rights Organization (IHRNGO) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). "While the world's attention was focused on the growing tensions between Iran and Israel the Islamic Republic took advantage of the lack of international oversight to terrorize its own people by carrying out 5 to 6 executions daily ," said Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of IHRNGO.