Four sentenced to death, four others to prison in Ekbatan case
Hengaw – Monday, May 25, 2026
Eight defendants in the so-called “Ekbatan Town case,” all detained during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, have been sentenced by the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to death and prison terms.
According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights,four defendants, Milad Armon, Navid Najjaran, Mehdi Imani and Seyed Mohammadmehdi Hosseini, were sentenced to death on charges of “Waging war against God” (moharebeh), while Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal, Alireza Barmarzpournak, Alireza Kafaei and Hossein Nemati were each sentenced to seven years in prison. The rulings were issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati.
According to the verdict, Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal, Alireza Barmarzpournak, Alireza Kafaei and Hossein Nemati were each sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion” and an additional two years for “propaganda against the state.” As supplementary punishment, the four defendants were also banned from online activity for two years and prohibited from residing in Tehran and Alborz provinces for the same period.
The sentences were issued without the presence or notification of the defendants’ lawyers and were communicated orally, preventing the defense attorneys from formally filing appeals. The lawyers have also been denied access to the court and case files.
In November 2024, six of the eight defendants in the Ekbatan case, Milad Armon, Alireza Kafaei, Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal, Navid Najjaran, Hossein Nemati and Alireza Barmarzpournak, had previously been sentenced to death by Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court.
On November 2 and 3, 2024, final defense hearings for the eight defendants were held before Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court No. 1 on charges of “participation in intentional murder and intentional assault.”
During the November 3 hearing, the bail orders previously granted to Hossein Nemati, Alireza Barmarzpournak, Alireza Kafaei and Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal, who had been temporarily released in February 2024 after more than a year in detention on bail of 50 billion rials, were converted back into detention orders. The four were rearrested and transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
On November 2, final defense hearings were also held for Milad Armon, Seyed Mohammadmehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani and Navid Najjaran, who were already imprisoned in Ghezel Hesar Prison and had been summoned to the same court branch.
The earlier death sentences issued in September 2025 were overturned by the Supreme Court and referred back to Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court for retrial. A new hearing was ultimately held on December 3, 2025, and the revised verdicts were subsequently issued.
According to the new ruling, Milad Armon, Alireza Kafaei and Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal were sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay an equal share of full blood money (diya) on charges of “participation in murder.” Meanwhile, Alireza Barmarzpournak, Hossein Nemati and Navid Najjaran were acquitted of participation in murder due to lack of evidence proving that they inflicted fatal injuries on “Arman Aliverdi.”
The case against Milad Armon, Seyed Mohammadmehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani and Navid Najjaran, which had previously been classified as confidential, was referred in April 2024 by Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court No. 1 to Branch 4 of the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran for further investigation. In early September 2024, after deficiencies were addressed, the case was returned to Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court and Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court headed by Judge Salavati.
In late October 2023, after four court sessions, the court declined to return the case to the prosecutor’s office for further investigation, and Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court entered the case for supplementary inquiries. Another part of the case was simultaneously referred to Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
The case became known as the “Ekbatan Town case” following the death of a Basij member named Arman Aliverdi during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in Ekbatan Town, Tehran, in November 2022. The case initially involved 14 defendants, but indictments were eventually issued for eight individuals.
Hossein Nemati was arrested on December 15, 2022; Amir Mohammad Khosheghbal and Seyed Mohammadmehdi Hosseini on December 6 and 5 respectively; Mehdi Imani on November 15; Alireza Kafaei and Alireza Barmarzpournak on November 4; and Milad Armon on November 2, 2022. Navid Najjaran was later arrested by security forces in Ahvaz and transferred to Tehran.
The judicial process in this case has been marked by serious violations of fair trial standards from the outset. The new death sentences were issued despite the fact that earlier death verdicts handed down by the criminal court on charges of participation in murder had already been overturned by the Supreme Court and reduced to prison sentences and blood money payments after retrial.
The defendants were sentenced to death without access to lawyers or adequate opportunities to present their defense, despite substantial ambiguities and flaws in the case file. Amid ongoing tensions in Iran, they are now at serious risk of execution.
