Hengaw warns of imminent risk of execution for Iranian-Swedish citizen Ahmadreza Djalali following secret transfer

Hengaw – Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish dual national sentenced to death on charges of espionage for Israel, has been transferred to an undisclosed location following recent Israeli airstrikes on Tehran’s Evin Prison. His execution, which is expected to be carried out in secret, is considered imminent.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, a number of political and national security prisoners were transferred to Great Tehran Penitentiary after Israeli strikes targeted Evin’s administrative wing. However, Djalali was separated from the group, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

Hengaw previously warned of the increased risk of retaliatory executions of prisoners accused of “espionage for Israel”—many of whom have been held under conditions akin to hostage detention. One of these prisoners is Ahmadreza Jalalian, an Iranian-Swedish dual-national physician and researcher, who has been sentenced to death and remains at constant risk of execution.

The 52-year-old researcher was arrested in 2016 while visiting Iran for an academic conference. He was later convicted of “Waging War against God through espionage for Israel” by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court and sentenced to death. 

Concerns over the retaliatory execution of this dual-national researcher have become more serious as officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran — along with state-affiliated media — have publicly issued threats and calls for retribution.

These concerns have further intensified following Iran’s retaliatory response to the war with Israel, during which three prisoners — Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, Majid Masibi, and Esmail Fekri — who had been convicted on charges of “espionage for Israel,” were executed.

Among the prisoners previously highlighted by Hengaw as being at imminent risk of execution was Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, a Tehran resident who had been sentenced to death on charges of “espionage for Israel.” He was ultimately executed on Monday, June 23, 2025 without adherence to the principles of a fair trial.

Hengaw urgently calls on the international community, to intervene and pressure the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt any planned execution. Djalali’s case exemplifies the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ongoing use of the death penalty as a tool of political leverage in times of geopolitical crisis.