Iran executes protesters Erfan Esfandiyari and Afghan national Gol Mohammad Mohammadi; 10 others at imminent risk

Hengaw – Sunday, July 19, 2026

The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed protesters Erfan Esfandiyari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, an Afghan national, who had been sentenced to death in the so-called "Alikhani Square" case. The executions were carried out at Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan following what Hengaw described as the authorities' deceptive transfer of death row prisoners a day earlier. The lives of 10 other defendants in the case remain at imminent risk.

According to a report received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, authorities secretly executed 19-year-old Erfan Esfandiyari and 23-year-old Afghan national Gol Mohammad Mohammadi in the early hours of Sunday, July 19, 2026, at Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. A day earlier, Hengaw had warned that 30 political prisoners, including 12 prisoners sentenced to death in the Alikhani Square case, had been deceptively summoned and transferred. Shortly after the executions, the judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency officially confirmed that the sentences had been carried out.

Immediately after the executions, Mizan News Agency repeated the authorities' narrative, accusing the protesters of involvement in the "violent unrest during the American-Zionist coup" and alleging that they had burned and dismembered the bodies of four members of the Basij and Special Unit forces: Hossein Ramezani, Mohammad Hemmati, Seyed Ali Khoshouei, and Valiollah Safari. The authorities also claimed the executions were carried out "after due legal process and in the presence of the defendants' lawyers." Human rights organizations have repeatedly rejected these claims, citing summary proceedings consisting of only three court sessions and the defendants' complete denial of access to independent legal counsel.

Hengaw warns 10 other protesters face imminent execution

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reiterates that, following these executions, the lives of the remaining 10 young defendants in the case are in immediate danger. They remain in solitary confinement at Dastgerd Prison under emergency conditions after their families were summoned for what were believed to be final visits:

1. Shervin Baqerian (19)

2. Abolfazl Ebrahimi (19)

3. Amirhossein Maleki (20)

4. Ali Dashti (20)

5. Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analoujeh (20)

6. Ghaem Hosseini (21)

7. Alireza Raeisi (22)

8. Abolfazl Sepahi (23)

9. Alireza Sepahi (25)

10. Amirhossein Safari (29)