Iran’s judiciary has continued the execution of political and security-related prisoners this week, as authorities continue a sweeping crackdown following the outbreak of war between Iran, the United States, and Israel. Human rights organizations, UN experts, and civil society activists have increasingly warned that the Islamic Republic is using capital punishment not merely as a criminal penalty, but as a political tool to suppress dissent, intimidate society, and consolidate control under wartime conditions.
On May 13, Iran’s judiciary announced the execution of Ehsan Afrashteh, an Iranian citizen accused of “espionage and intelligence cooperation in favor of Israel.” According to Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the judiciary, Afrashteh allegedly established contact with Israeli intelligence operatives during trips to Turkey and Nepal and later transferred sensitive information while working at a company linked to a military institution.
State media also released a video presented as Afrashteh’s “confession.” However, human rights groups and activists have strongly challenged the credibility of such televised statements, arguing that they are frequently extracted under coercion, torture, prolonged solitary confinement, or psychological pressure. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Afrashteh, born in 1994, was arrested in 2025 after returning to Iran from Turkey.
International human rights observers have expressed growing alarm over the increasing number of executions carried out under opaque national security charges. Amnesty International and other organizations have repeatedly criticized Iran’s judicial process in such cases, citing violations of fair trial standards, denial of legal representation, and the use of forced confessions. Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, recently warned that the Islamic Republic is using “the death penalty as a tool to suppress political opposition under wartime conditions.”
Only hours after Afrashteh’s execution was announced, the judiciary confirmed the execution of Mohammad Abbasi, one of those arrested during the nationwide protests that erupted in the winter of last year. Iranian authorities accused him of killing a member of the security forces during the unrest and stated that the execution was carried out as “qisas” (retribution) at the request of the victim’s family and following final approval by the Supreme Court.
At the same time, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld a 25-year prison sentence for Fatemeh Abbasi, Mohammad Abbasi’s daughter, who is currently imprisoned in the women’s ward of Evin Prison. The simultaneous execution of a father and the lengthy imprisonment of his daughter has drawn renewed criticism from activists who view such cases as part of a broader pattern of collective punishment against protest-linked families.
According to official and human rights reporting, at least 32 prisoners connected to political and security-related charges have been executed since the beginning of the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has repeatedly instructed prosecutors and judges to process cases involving alleged espionage, anti-state activities, or protest participation “swiftly and without leniency.”
On Tuesday, authorities executed Abdoljalil Shahbakhsh, accusing him of membership in the Sunni militant group Ansar al-Furqan and involvement in attacks against security personnel. State media once again published a video described as his “confession,” though human rights organizations argued that the statements were extracted under torture and after prolonged denial of legal counsel, family visits, and phone contact.
The Baloch Human Rights Documentation Network reported that Shahbakhsh had been held for years under severe restrictions and alleged that both physical and psychological torture were used during interrogations. The group further warned that three other political prisoners connected to the same case now face an imminent risk of execution.
Another highly controversial execution this week was that of Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old aerospace engineering graduate student from Iran University of Science and Technology. Iranian authorities accused him of cooperating with American intelligence services and Israel’s Mossad. Human rights organizations had warned for days that his transfer to Ghezel Hesar Prison signaled an imminent execution.
According to rights groups, Shakourzadeh spent months in solitary confinement and stated in written testimony from prison that he had been subjected to torture and forced to make false confessions. Despite the severity of the accusations, authorities provided almost no transparent public evidence regarding the details of his case, trial proceedings, or the alleged classified information involved.
Human rights advocates argue that the pace and opacity of these executions raise serious concerns about due process, judicial independence, and the use of wartime conditions to silence political opposition. Critics warn that Iran’s expanding use of the death penalty risks deepening domestic fear and repression at a moment when the country is already facing severe political, economic, and military pressures. The National Iranian American Council condemns this spate of post-war executions transpiring amid deep concerns over due process, forced confessions and torture, and echoes calls on Iran to halt its use of the death penalty – particularly in protest-related cases – and immediately move in compliance with its international human rights obligations.