Death Penalty News

Iranian authorities secretly executed three prisoners, including a Baloch man, in Isfahan Central Prison (Dastgerd Prison). The three had been sentenced to death in separate cases on drug-related charges. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mohammad Yousef Issazahi (Rigi), Shahrokh Pouresmaeili, and Hossein Ghasemzadeh were executed at dawn on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Issazahi (Rigi), a 40-year-old Baloch man from Iranshahr, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was married and the father of five children. He was arrested in Isfahan in 2022 on drug-related charges and subsequently sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

Iranian authorities executed two prisoners, Mohammad Davoudi from Taybad and Sina Bahrami from Naqadeh, at Semnan and Urmia prisons. They had been sentenced to death in separate cases on drug-related and murder charges. According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mohammad Davoudi, a 42-year-old married man from Taybad in Razavi Khorasan province, was executed at Semnan Prison in the early hours of Saturday, August 1, 2026. He was denied a final visit with his family, who were not notified in advance of the execution.

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.

Iranian authorities executed two women, Asieh Farahmand and Zeinab Zarini, in Qazvin Central Prison earlier this month after they were convicted in a joint case of “premeditated murder.”  Data compiled by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights shows that at least nine women have been executed in Iranian prisons over the past six months. Information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights shows that the executions were carried out in the early hours of June 7, 2026, at Qazvin Central Prison (Choobindar Prison). Farahmand, 28, and Zarini, 32, were both from Qazvin.

The Iranian Judiciary has executed Javad Zamani and Abolfazl Saeedi, two men arrested in connection with the January protests, amid a continuing surge in political executions and the authorities’ ongoing campaign of reprisals against protesters. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions of Javad Zamani and Abolfazl Saeedi were carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at Shahroud Central Prison in Semnan Province. The executions were announced by Mizan News Agency, the official media outlet of the Iranian Judiciary.

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.

Iranian authorities have secretly executed two Kurdish political prisoners, Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour, both from Naqadeh, who had previously been sentenced to death in a joint case on charges of membership in the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI). According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the death sentences of Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour were carried out in secret at dawn on Wednesday, May 21, 2026, in Naqadeh Central Prison, without prior notice to their families or the opportunity for a final visit.

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.

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.

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.

The Islamic Republic has now entered a new phase of systematic repression, reports Amirhossein Miresmaeili as lawyers warn of an unprecedented scale of repression in the country This article first appeared on our partner site, Independent Persian Iran has seen a sharp increase in raids on the homes of protesters by the Islamic Republic’s military in recent weeks, with a dramatic rise in demand for the death penalty, several lawyers have told Independent Persian. Reports indicate that the arrests, often on charges related to participation in Iran’s national uprising, have often proceeded without recourse to any legal or judicial process. Severe charges have been raised at the preliminary indictment stage, some carrying penalties that could include execution and death.

HRANA – At dawn today, February 3, the death sentences of 15 prisoners, previously convicted on charges related to drug offenses and murder, were carried out in the prisons of Sirjan, Rasht, Yazd, Ahvaz, Jiroft, Borazjan, Ilam, Khaf, Bam, Birjand, Lahijan, Mahabad, Sabzevar, Shiraz, and Malayer. Based on information received by HRANA, Saeed Rouhani was executed in Sirjan Prison; Ayoub Lashkari in Rasht Prison; Bahram Bani Asad in Ahvaz Prison; Hedayat Mirzaei in Borazjan Prison; Afshin Maleki in Ilam Prison; Tahmasb Mehrjou in Khaf Prison; Ali Haghighatdoost in Lahijan Prison; Hirman Sadri in Mahabad Prison; and Majid Sohrabi in Malayer Prison. 

Some 30,000 people are already thought to have been killed and many more detained. Families say they have little information about their loved ones  Two weeks after Ali Rahbar was arrested in anti-regime protests in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, his cousin heard from relatives that he had been executed. He was 33. “I was shocked,” his cousin, who lives in Europe, told The Sunday Times. “Everything went dark before my eyes.”  Rahbar’s family had no idea where he had been held or what the charge was, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions against his family in Iran. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 10, 2025: At least six men, including four Baluch minorities, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Birjand Central Prison. Ramezan Deldadeh, Behzad Mazarzehi, Ali Barahouyi, Mirzakhan Basati and two unidentified Baluch men were on death row for drug-related offences. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least six men were hanged in Birjand Central Prison on 9 December 2025. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Two of the men who were Baluch minorities have not been identified at the time of writing.

Saudi Arabia executed 345 people in 2024, rights groups say, double the rate of the past few years. The government in Riyadh, pictured, has rejected allegations of unfair trials and secret executions.  For a year, Mohamed Saad’s family had no idea whether he was alive or dead. The 28-year-old Egyptian fisherman had gone out on a routine trip off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and never returned. Relatives searched for months with no word from authorities. When they finally heard his voice, it was from a prison in Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia, where Saad said he was being held on drug-smuggling charges. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); August 8, 2025: Jahanshah Irvani, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Semnan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Semnan Central prison on 5 August 2025. His identity has been established as Jahanshah Irvani. He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 6, 2025: State media have reported the execution of a woman only named as Saghar for murder charges at an unspecified location in Alborz/Tehran. The victim’s family accepted blood money and spared the life of her male co-defendant. According to a report published by Rokna on 1st May 2025, an unidentified woman was executed at an unspecified location. Only named as Saghar, she was arrested six years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of her husband in the Kamalshahr in the west of Karaj. It appears that she was executed in a Tehran/Alborz prison.

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.

Since the beginning of 2024, Iranian authorities have carried out at least 883 executions, with 94 percent conducted in complete secrecy. This has sparked widespread public protests both inside and outside the country. The Iranian human rights site "HRANA" revealed that at least 883 executions took place in Iranian prisons during 2024, reflecting an 18.3 percent increase compared to the previous year. In 2023, authorities in Iran executed 834 individuals, marking the highest toll since 2015.