Javad Zarei, Baloch prisoner, secretly executed

Hengaw – Saturday, February 21, 2026

Iranian authorities secretly carried out the execution of Javad Zarei, a Baloch prisoner from Sistan and Baluchestan Province, in Torbat-e Heydarieh Central Prison in Razavi Khorasan Province. He had previously been sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

Hengaw has learned that the execution was carried out at dawn on Thursday, February 19, 2026. Javad Zarei, a father of three from Sistan and Baluchestan and a resident of Salarabad village in Mashhad, was executed in Torbat-e Heydarieh Prison.

According to the Baloch media outlet Haalvsh, Zarei had been arrested five years ago and initially sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. Iranian authorities later opened a case against him referred to as a “violation inside prison,” and while he was on furlough, they issued a death sentence in connection with that case.

Iranian authorities carried out the execution in secret and denied him a final visit with his family.

State media, particularly outlets affiliated with the judiciary, have not announced the execution.