Iran: Political Death Sentences Surge in Brutal Crackdown on Minorities

Torture, Forced Confessions and Sham Trials Drive Deadly State Campaign Against Kurds and Arabs

July 16, 2025 — The Iranian government is rapidly increasing its use of the death penalty as a political weapon to crush dissent, terrorize restive ethnic minorities, and tighten its grip on power following its recent conflict with Israel, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said today.

In recent weeks, courts have sentenced numerous political prisoners—many of them Kurds and Arabs, but also participants in the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests—to death on alleged national security charges, following grossly unfair trials where forced “confessions” extracted under torture replaced any real evidence, according to research undertaken by CHRI. 

“These are not trials. They are state-orchestrated performances meant to deliver death and instill fear,” said Bahar Ghandehari, CHRI’s Director of Advocacy.

“We are witnessing a coordinated state campaign to terrorize Kurdish and Arab communities who have not only endured decades of systemic state persecution, but have also stood at the forefront of many peaceful anti-government protests demanding freedom, justice, and dignity,” Ghandehari said.

“They now find themselves singled out as scapegoats by a regime desperate to reassert control after the massive Woman, Life, Freedom protests of 2022 and its military confrontation with Israel in 2025,” she added.

These executions violate not only domestic constitutional protections but also numerous international legal standards to which Iran is bound. Halting this systematic wave of executions must become an urgent global demand.

CHRI urges the UN and governments to forcefully condemn these death sentences and:

• Demand that the Iranian authorities immediately halt all pending executions and institute a moratorium on all political death sentences;
• Call for independent investigations of any allegations of torture or trial violations;
• Impose targeted sanctions against Iranian judges, intelligence agents, and other officials involved in these violations, including through mechanisms such as the Magnitsky Act;
• Governments should also pursue prosecution of responsible officials in national courts under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

“Given the scale and systematic nature of these crimes, particularly when targeted against specific ethnic and political groups, such actions may fall under the definition of crimes against humanity as outlined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute,” said Saeid Dehghan, a prominent human rights lawyer and director of the Parsi Law Collective.

“There is an urgent need for immediate international action, including a resolution by the UN General Assembly and a call on the Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative committee,” Dehghan said.

Five Kurdish Protesters Condemned to Die: No Evidence, Just Torture

On July 6, 2025, the Revolutionary Court in Urmia, presided over by Judge Reza Najafzadeh, sentenced five Kurdish protestors—Ali (Soran) Ghasemi, Pejman Soltani, Kaveh Salehi, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, and Teyfour Salimi Babamiri—to multiple death sentences, for a total of 11 death sentences, in addition to lengthy prison terms and heavy fines. These individuals were arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests and tried in a case with multiple other defendants.

Additionally, a separate court in West Azerbaijan Province had earlier sentenced Pejman Soltani to death under qisas (retribution) for the alleged murder of a security officer. Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri was sentenced to 15 years for allegedly ordering the murder, and Ghasemi to over 10 years for aiding and abetting. Kaveh Salehi was acquitted in that case.

These individuals were also sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay combined monetary penalties of 358 million tomans for offenses such as alleged “collaboration with Israel,” “smuggling Starlink satellite devices,” “propaganda against the state,” and “conspiracy to disrupt national security.” 

Additionally, eight other defendants in the same case—Siamak Hiyasi, Sowareh Azizzadeh, Heyman Kermanj, Hossein Hosseinzadeh, Jalil Moloudi, Ahmad Mamehzadeh, Javanmard Mamkhosravi, and Salar Daghdar—were sentenced to prison terms and fines on charges including “membership in a rebel group,” “collaboration with a hostile government,” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.” Seven of them had previously been released on bail.

According to CHRI’s findings, all of these defendants’ cases, which together totaled 14 cases, were built solely on reports by the Intelligence Ministry and forced “confessions” obtained under torture during detention, with no independent or credible evidence presented in court. All of the accused were denied access to legal counsel and family visits during the first four months of detention.

“There is no actual evidence. All charges rely on forced confessions.”

Dr. Salahuddin Ahmadi, another defendant, was acquitted but now faces a separate criminal case for allegedly “financing terrorism.” A source told CHRI, these accusations stem from his provision of medicine to injured protesters.

A source familiar with the case told CHRI: 

“Aside from a few seized Starlink devices, there is no actual evidence. All charges rely on forced confessions. Some of the accused were simply satellite dish installers. One of them, a pharmacist, was charged with ‘financing terrorism’ for providing medicine to injured protesters—an accusation applied to seven others in the case for similar reasons.”

“Blindfolded and handcuffed, I was tied to a chair while agents applied electric shocks.”

In a letter from Urmia Central Prison dated April 10, 2025, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, who was also arrested for providing medical aid to injured protesters during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, detailed the torture he endured, including mock executions, waterboarding, electric shocks, and sleep deprivation, to extract forced confessions. He added that his formal complaint against the perpetrators was ignored.

“Handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded, I was continuously mocked while they pulled the triggers of their weapons, telling me, ‘We haven’t registered your name anywhere as a prisoner, so when you die under interrogations, it’ll be easy to dump your body like those of the rioters (protesters), in the sewage canals, lakes and mass graves.’

“Blindfolded and handcuffed, I was tied to a chair with a rope, while intelligence agents applied electric shocks to my earlobes, testicles, nipples, spine, sides, armpits, thighs, and temples, inflicting unbearable pain to force me to write or say what they wanted on camera.

“They would suddenly take me to an unknown room in the middle of the night and force me to stand on a stool with a noose around my neck for hours on end and threaten to secretly and anonymously execute me, attempting to intimidate me as much as possible.

“For several consecutive days and nights, Intelligence Department agents kept disturbing me, making noise, shouting insults, entering my cell, beating me, and using any means to keep me from sleeping. Their goal was to break my resistance so that I would write their dictated scenarios and repeat it on camera. All the while, my only crime was helping fellow human beings.

“During the 130 consecutive days of detention and torture, aside from bruises all over my body, I lost hearing in my left ear due to the blows to my head by the interrogators and couldn’t hear for three months. Later, the ruptured eardrum in my left ear gradually regained some hearing, but during the recovery period, it became severely infected multiple times.”

Judge in response to reports of torture: “Did you expect them to serve you kebab?’”

Beigzadeh Babamiri added that the judge was aware of the torture endured by him and his co-defendant:

“How could the Urmia Revolutionary Court and Judge Reza Najafzadeh, despite the legal briefs submitted by me and other defendants detailing the types of torture suffered by the 14 defendants in this case, respond in court by simply saying the shameful sentence: ‘Did you expect them to serve you kebab?’ 

“Judicial independence is nothing but a myth in this country. The torturer is fully protected while the victim is placed under threat, pressure, and additional punishments. The goal of the security forces is not to maintain public safety, but rather to serve their superiors and exercise blind ethnic and sectarian prejudice. Torture and fabricated cases are standard practices and tools of oppressive forces.”   

Breakdown of the death sentences against 5 protesters: 

1. Ali (Soran) Ghasemi has been sentenced to three death sentences by a Revolutionary Court in Urmia for the charges of “armed rebellion,” “enmity against God,” and “leading and forming a rebel group.” In a separate ruling by the criminal court, he was also sentenced to 10 years and 1 day in prison for aiding and abetting murder.” In addition, he received further prison time and a financial fine on alleged charges such as “cooperation with Israel,” “smuggling Starlink satellite equipment,” and “propaganda against the state.”
2. Pejman Soltani has received three death sentences: two for “armed rebellion” and “enmity against God,” by a Revolutionary Court in Urmia and one from the juvenile criminal court for premeditated murder (qisas). He was also sentenced to multiple years of imprisonment and a financial fine for alleged charges such as “cooperation with Israel,” “smuggling Starlink satellite equipment,” and “propaganda against the state.”
3. Kaveh Salehi was sentenced to two death sentences by a Revolutionary Court in Urmia on charges of “armed rebellion” and “enmity against God.” He was acquitted of murder charges in the separate case but was still sentenced to additional years in prison and fined for security-related charges similar to those faced by the others.
4. Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri was sentenced to three death sentences for “armed rebellion,” “leading a rebel group,” and one for “spying for Israel.” He also received 15 years in prison from the criminal court for murder, and additional prison terms and fines for alleged charges such as “cooperation with Israel,” “smuggling Starlink satellite equipment,” and “propaganda against the state.”
5. Teyfour Salimi Babamiri, who had previously been temporarily released on bail, was sentenced to one death sentence for allegedly leading the same “rebel group.” He also received further prison time and a fine for alleged charges such as “cooperation with Israel,” “smuggling Starlink satellite equipment,” and “propaganda against the state.”

In July 2024, the Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), published footage of forced “confessions” of four of the detainees, despite their consistent claims that these statements were made under physical and psychological torture.

Arab Political Prisoners Next in Line for Execution

The recent crackdown is not limited to Kurdish activists. On July 11, it was reported that three Arab political prisoners—Ali Mojadam, Moein Khenfari, and Mohammadreza Mojadam—were transferred from the general ward of Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz to solitary confinement on June 25, 2025. They were sentenced to death on charges that included “collaboration with anti-regime groups” and “acting against national security.” They had previously endured prolonged solitary confinement, violent interrogations, and forced “confessions.”

The three were reportedly able to make brief phone calls to their families on July 13, after 17 days of complete incommunicado detention.

On July 11, Branch 1 of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Adibimehr, sentenced Farshad Etemadifar, Masoud Jamei, and Alireza Mordasi each to two death sentences and one year in prison on charges of “corruption on earth,” “membership in rebel groups,” and “propaganda against the regime.” 

A source familiar with the case told CHRI: 

“The judicial process for these individuals was marked by violations of fundamental fair trial principles, including lack of effective access to legal counsel, security pressures, and confessions obtained under duress.”

In the same case, two others—Saman Hormatnejad and Davood Hormatnejad—received prison sentences of 12 and 15 years, respectively. All five were arrested in 2023.

Masoud Jamei’s case is especially dire. A former employee of the National Iranian Oil Company, Jamei, 47, suffers from stomach cancer, liver disease, high blood pressure, and a severe internal infection. He was arrested in August 2023 and reportedly subjected to intense torture, and has since been denied critical medical treatment during his 13 months of detention in Sheiban Prison.

In March 2025, Jamei and his wife Zeinab Hezbahpour and their children Nahid (22), Dalal (20), and Roghieh (16) were tried in the Bavi Revolutionary Court on charges of alleged affiliation with anti-government groups. Details of their legal proceedings and charges remain unknown.

A Call for Global Red Lines

Iran is now running one of the world’s most aggressive execution campaigns targeting peaceful protesters, political dissidents, and minority communities, under the pretense of national security. These death sentences, based on torture, fabricated charges, and ethnic profiling, amount to state-sponsored murder. The international community should not remain silent as the Iranian government escalates this war on its own citizens, CHRI stressed.

“The Iranian regime is testing the world’s moral boundaries. Every death sentence issued under torture and false confession is a challenge to international law, and every silent response from the global community is a tacit green light for further executions,” said Ghandehari.

“The international community must act now—not after the gallows have done their work and these voices are permanently silenced,” she added.