Serial Executions: The Shadow of the 1980s Political Mass Killings in Iran

Escalating Executions and the Risk of Renewed Political Mass Killings

Since the nationwide protests of Dey 1404 (December 2025–January 2026), successive executions, new death sentences and the execution of co-defendants on different dates have raised serious concerns about the use of capital punishment for political repression and public intimidation in Iran. According to findings of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission, at least 29 people had been executed in connection with these protests by the end of August 2026, and executions continued in subsequent months.

On 28 October 2026, Dr. Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, warned the Third Committee of the General Assembly: “There is no longer any legal avenue for expressing dissent.” She added: “Protesters have faced lethal violence or have subsequently been sentenced to death and executed.” Sato stressed that four decades of repression had not deterred Iranians from protesting but had instead deepened the grievances that drove them into the streets.

The Ali-Khani Square case in Isfahan, in which nine people were executed between July and November 2026 while six other prisoners remained at risk of execution, illustrates the continuing threat of death within a single joint case. The pattern recalls the political executions of the 1980s, particularly the mass killing of prisoners in the summer of 1988, although the scale and historical circumstances of the two periods are not identical.

By examining individual cases and the role of judicial and security institutions, this report asks whether successive executions and newly imposed death sentences form part of a pattern intended to intimidate society and deter further protests.

Serial Executions: From the Suppression of Protesters to the Continuing Terror of Their Families

The execution of people arrested in connection with the Dey 1404 protests continued for months after street demonstrations had ended. On 19 March 2026, Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old wrestler, was executed in Qom alongside Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi. Their case concerned allegations that two members of the Basij had been killed during the protests.

In April 2026, four defendants linked to the events of 8 January on Damavand Street in Tehran were executed over several successive days: Amirhossein Hatami on 2 April, Shahin Vahedparast and Mohammadamin Biglari on 5 April, and Ali Fahim on 6 April. On 3 May, Ebrahim Dowlatabadi, Mehdi Rasouli and Mohammadreza Miri were also executed in Mashhad.

These cases demonstrate that executions of protest detainees were not confined to one city or one period. One of the clearest examples of executions continuing within a joint case emerged in Isfahan.

Ali-Khani Square, Isfahan: Nine Executions and Six More Prisoners Awaiting Their Fate

The Ali-Khani Square case concerns the events of 8 January 2026 and the killing of four security personnel during protests in Isfahan. According to Amnesty International, nine defendants in the case were executed on separate dates between July and November 2026: Erfan Esfandiari, Abolfazl Sepahi, Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi, Ghaem Hosseini, Amirhossein Maleki, Golmohammad Mohammadi, Alireza Raeisi, Alireza Sepahi and Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analoujeh.

The most recent reported executions in this group were those of Amirhossein Maleki and Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analoujeh on 3 November 2026 (12 Aban 1405).

Among those executed were two brothers, Abolfazl and Alireza Sepahi. According to information received from trusted sources inside Iran, Abolfazl was hanged in public. Alireza lost consciousness before his execution and was taken to hospital, but his death sentence was carried out after he recovered. The Sepahi family lost both sons in the same case.

Despite these nine executions, the case remains unresolved. Amnesty International has warned that six more prisoners face imminent execution: Abolfazl Ebrahimi, Ali Dashti, Javad Talebpour, Mehdi Eskandari, Sepehr Hounjani and Shervin Bagherian Jabali. According to the organisation, the Supreme Court has upheld their death sentences.

Executing nine defendants over several months, while six co-defendants still face execution, has consequences beyond the loss of those already killed. The families of those who remain have watched people tried in the same case being executed and now face the prospect of the same fate for their loved ones.

This highlights a disturbing feature of successive executions: the execution of one prisoner does not end the threat to other people sentenced to death in the same case; it can instead intensify their families’ anguish and fear.

Execution as a Threat Extending Beyond Prison Walls

Carrying out death sentences on different dates, particularly in joint cases, warrants independent examination of both judicial scheduling and its social consequences. Each announcement of an execution reminds the family of a prisoner whose sentence has not yet been carried out that they too may lose a loved one.

This human impact is especially clear in the Ali-Khani Square case, where completed executions and outstanding death sentences are two aspects of the same continuing situation. Some families are mourning their relatives; others remain under the shadow of an execution order.

The human rights question is not only why these people were sentenced to death, but whether staggered executions, alongside judicial and security threats, form part of a broader mechanism to intimidate protesters and deter society from demonstrating again.

Answering that question requires examining not only the executions already carried out but also the new death sentences imposed on other prisoners after the protests, which show that the threat of capital punishment continues.

New Death Sentences: The Expanding Circle of Prisoners at Risk After the Protests

While executions of people arrested during the Dey 1404 protests continued in prisons across Iran, new death sentences were also imposed on other protesters. Recent cases reported in Mashhad and Karaj indicate that prisoners continued to face capital punishment many months after the protests. Some were tried together, and serious questions remain about their defence rights and the evidence relied upon.

Mashhad: Death Sentences Against Several Protest Detainees

Matin Shabani, arrested during protests in Shandiz on 7 and 8 January 2026, was transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. According to the case information, Branch Five of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Hossein Yazdankhah with Seyed Reza Javadmousavi as an associate judge, sentenced him to death on a charge of moharebeh (“enmity against God”) and allegations relating to damage to property and the burning of religious premises. However, the published information does not clarify what direct evidence the court presented of his personal involvement in these incidents.

In another case, Vahid Khedri-Khah, aged 34, who had been wounded by a bullet fired by government forces before his arrest, was sentenced to death alongside Matin Farnian, a 23-year-old man from Mashhad, and a third person. All three faced the charge of moharebeh before Branch Five of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court. Khedri-Khah and Farnian are held in Ward 6/1 of Vakilabad Prison, while the identity of the third defendant has not been disclosed.

The undisclosed identity of one person under sentence of death not only prevents public monitoring but also raises concerns about access to legal representation, whether the family has been informed and the risk of an execution without adequate notice.

Amir Delshad, another person arrested in connection with the Dey protests, was also sentenced to death by Branch Five of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court. The allegations include activities said to benefit an opposition group and participation in the protests. His appeal has been referred to the Supreme Court; the final status of his sentence requires further investigation.

A common feature of these cases is the use of national-security charges to impose death sentences, while the available information does not clarify the full evidentiary basis, how individual criminal responsibility was established or whether an effective defence was possible.

Karaj: Death Sentence Against an Artist and Animal Rights Activist

Homayoun Shabankareh, a 22-year-old artist and animal rights activist, was sentenced to death and confiscation of property by Branch Two of the Karaj Revolutionary Court on 5 November 2026. Mehdi Sabzevarnejad, also known as Sabzevari, has been identified as the judge hearing the case.

He was arrested on 14 May 2026 after officers raided his family home. According to the available information, Shabankareh was held in solitary confinement for 97 days in Hall 12 of Karaj Central Penitentiary. After a short period in a communal ward, he was again transferred to solitary confinement.

His principal charge was described as “intelligence cooperation with Israel against national security”. His case also refers to sending videos and news of the protests to media outside Iran, writing slogans and posting on Instagram. The court relied on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence report, messages, emails and statements attributed to him.

The case material records Shabankareh as saying, “I did nothing.” The available account does not specify any operation he carried out or any identifiable damage caused by the alleged actions. Nevertheless, the court imposed the death penalty by relying on its legal interpretation of the offence of intelligence cooperation.

The significance of Shabankareh’s case lies in the way activities involving the dissemination of information and expression of political views appear alongside grave national-security accusations. Independent examination of the evidence and of whether the alleged conduct meets the strict international-law threshold for capital punishment is essential.

The Continuing Risk of Execution: From New Sentences to Prisoners Awaiting Implementation

The sentences handed down in Mashhad and Karaj, together with other cases that have already reached the Supreme Court, show that the threat of capital punishment continued to affect protest detainees and political opponents in the months following the demonstrations.

This is particularly concerning in light of the Ali-Khani Square case, where executions on different dates placed the remaining co-defendants at continuing and immediate risk.

In these circumstances, a death sentence is not merely a judicial decision concerning a prisoner’s future. For the prisoner and their family, the announcement itself marks the beginning of prolonged uncertainty, intensified by each subsequent report of an execution in a similar case.

Recurring death sentences, repeated involvement of Revolutionary Courts and the use of national-security charges in protest-related cases underscore the need to investigate the judicial mechanisms of repression and the responsibility of the institutions making these decisions.

Reproducing the Repressive Pattern of the 1980s: Capital Punishment as an Instrument of Intimidation

The wave of executions and death sentences after the Dey 1404 protests raises an alarming question about the judiciary’s role in political repression: has capital punishment, beyond individual prosecutions, become a means of instilling fear and preventing renewed demonstrations?

Death sentences on national-security charges, the repeated role of Revolutionary Courts, trials challenged on fair-trial grounds and successive executions indicate the need to investigate a broader pattern. Under such a pattern, an execution affects more than the individual whose life is taken: the prospect of further executions can keep families and society in prolonged anxiety and insecurity.

This recalls the mechanisms of political repression in the 1980s, particularly the mass killing of prisoners in the summer of 1988, when judicial and security institutions played a role in the large-scale elimination of political opponents. Although the historical circumstances and scale differ, capital punishment against opponents, the absence of effective fair-trial safeguards and families’ denial of justice and accountability are common features that cannot be ignored.

Four decades of political repression in Iran heighten concerns about the recurrence of these mechanisms. Establishing a coordinated policy of intimidation, however, requires examination of the links between official statements, judicial decisions and the timing of executions.

The central danger is the re-emergence of a pattern in which a death sentence ceases to be an individual punishment and becomes a continuing threat to political opponents and to society’s right to protest.

International Warnings, State Responsibility and the Urgent Need to Halt Executions

United Nations Warnings on the Execution of Protesters

Throughout 2026, United Nations human rights mechanisms repeatedly warned about the execution of protesters, unfair trials and the lack of judicial accountability in Iran. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission reported that at least 29 people linked to the Dey 1404 protests had been executed by the end of August 2026 and expressed concern about dozens more prisoners at risk of execution.

In October 2026, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, warned against using national-security charges to punish protesters, described the broadcast of televised confessions before trial as a serious human rights violation, and called for an end to executions and accountability for those responsible. She also stressed the importance of international mechanisms in the absence of effective domestic judicial accountability.

Violations of the Right to Life and the Possible Commission of Crimes Against Humanity

Under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Human Rights Committee’s General Comment No. 36, the death penalty is permissible only for the “most serious crimes” involving intentional killing. Political and national-security offences that do not meet that threshold cannot lawfully justify deprivation of life.

Imposing or carrying out a death sentence on the basis of torture-induced confessions, without effective access to legal counsel or following proceedings lacking essential safeguards may constitute arbitrary deprivation of life. The Iranian authorities are obliged to investigate such cases independently, ensure accountability and provide effective remedies for victims and their families.

If independent investigations establish that the executions and other repressive acts formed part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, it would also be necessary to examine the criminal responsibility of perpetrators and those who ordered the acts for possible crimes against humanity.

Urgent Appeal: Preventing a Recurrence of Political Mass Killings

Ongoing executions and the threat of new executions demand immediate action by the international community.

This report calls upon the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission and UN Member States to:

1. Act to halt executions immediately and establish a formal moratorium on the death penalty, prioritising the protection of prisoners facing imminent execution.
2. Demand disclosure of the names of prisoners under sentence of death, the status of their cases, their places of detention and official execution figures since the Dey 1404 protests.
3. Initiate independent investigations into the execution of protesters, unfair trials, torture, forced confessions and the responsibility of security and judicial institutions.
4. Preserve evidence of human rights violations for future proceedings and accountability, while protecting the safety of families, witnesses and confidential sources inside Iran.
5. Prioritise ending executions and protecting prisoners’ lives in diplomatic engagement with the Islamic Republic and support lawful mechanisms of accountability.

The political executions of the 1980s demonstrated how a lack of accountability can enable grave and irreversible violations of the right to life. Continued successive executions today raise the risk of a recurrence of that pattern.

Preventing future executions must not wait until the list of victims is complete. Every death sentence not yet carried out represents an opportunity to save a human life—an opportunity irretrievably lost once the execution takes place.

Documentary Annexes

The two accompanying lists contain the names of people executed in connection with the nationwide Dey 1404 protests and prisoners sentenced to death after those protests. Their details were received and reviewed through reliable, trusted channels inside Iran. Given the authorities’ lack of transparency, restricted access to prison and judicial records, and the absence of complete official statistics, the lists are neither exhaustive nor final; the actual numbers of those executed and sentenced to death may be higher. The identities of confidential sources are withheld for their protection.

• Annex I: People Executed in Connection with the December 2025–January 2026 Protests

• Annex II: Prisoners Sentenced to Death Following the December 2025–January 2026 Protests