Iran executes two political prisoners in secret; other death row prisoners at risk
Hengaw – Monday, March 30, 2026
Iranian authorities have secretly executed two political prisoners, Akbar Daneshvarkar from Tehran and Seyed Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi from Amol, in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. With these executions, at least six political prisoners have been executed in Iranian prisons since the start of the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out in the early hours of Monday, March 30, 2026, in Ghezel Hesar Prison without prior notice to their families. Daneshvarkar, 60, and Taghavi Sangdehi, 59, had previously been sentenced to death in 2024 by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, on charges of “baghi” (armed rebellion) through alleged membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).
Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, officially confirmed the executions and brought heavy charges against the two men, including “direct involvement in terrorist activities,” “manufacturing explosive launchers,” “forming illegal groups,” and “communicating with opposition networks to undermine national security.” However, according to reports received by Hengaw, these accusations were obtained under intense interrogations and in the absence of fair trial standards.
Daneshvarkar, born in September 1966, was married and the father of a 12-year-old son. He was a dismissed civil engineer who worked as a motorcycle courier in Tehran before his arrest on January 3, 2024.
Taghavi Sangdehi, originally from Amol, was a graphic design graduate of the University of Tehran. He had a history of political activity in the 1980s and had previously served three years in prison in recent years. He was arrested again in March 2024, only one year after his release.
The secret execution of these two prisoners comes as four other co-defendants in the same case — Pouya Ghobadi Bistouni, Vahid Baniamerian, Babak Alipour, and Seyed Abolhassan Montazer — are also facing death sentences issued in 2024. Two other defendants in the same case, Seyed Mojtaba Taghavi Sangdehi and Seyed Ali Taghavi Sangdehi, have been sentenced to imprisonment and internal exile to Khash.
