Iranian protesters’ executions stir grief and harden resolve across Iran

It is three o'clock in the morning and I am trying not to fall asleep. By the time the dawn call to prayer reaches my window, three young Iranians may be dead.

I know there is nothing I can do. Still, sleep feels like a kind of surrender. So I keep refreshing whatever scraps of internet still work, hoping to see a message saying the executions have been postponed, that the rumours were wrong, that someone, somewhere, changed their mind.

The three young men have spent weeks waiting for this night. Convicted over their alleged role in the January protests, they now face the possibility of being taken to the gallows before most of Iran has opened its eyes.

Their names are spreading quickly, far beyond their hometown of Isfahan. That is why so many of us are awake.

Videos circulating online show heavy security around Isfahan's Alikhani Square, where scaffolding has been erected ahead of the possible public hangings. Small groups of people hover nearby despite the risks. They know they are unlikely to stop anything, but they go anyway.

There is something profoundly human about it: standing in the darkness simply because another person should not have to die alone.

The authorities would probably describe it as law enforcement. Most people I know call it something else: state killing. The only thing in Iran that never pauses.

War or peace, summer or winter. Presidents come and go, mediators arrive and leave. Bombs fall. Ceasefires are declared. The scaffold remains.

That continuity has become its own form of terror. Executions are part of our lives because the state has made them part of our lives. Deliberately.

Tonight feels different only because people know where to look. Some are watching the square from nearby streets. Others, like me, stare at flickering phone screens. We tell ourselves that daylight would make it harder.

As if numbers could somehow interrupt a machinery that has spent decades perfecting itself. It is an irrational hope. But hope often is.

People outside Iran often ask why sanctions, assassinations or bombs have not broken this system. Well, perhaps look at Alikhani Square.

Bombs can destroy buildings. They cannot, on their own, dismantle a system that has learned to absorb them. Ordinary people are different. They are the only force capable of challenging it from within. So the regime continues to reserve its greatest brutality for us.

The call to prayer will come soon. I still do not know whether I will sleep before then. I tell myself that once the sun is up there will be more eyes on the streets, more phones recording, more people standing nearby.

I convince myself that staying awake might help. I know it won’t. But tonight it feels unbearable not to try.

Iran's judiciary news agency Mizan identified the men as Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi, saying the sentences were carried out early Tuesday local time.

The executions followed hours of growing concern after reports that an iron scaffold had been erected in Alikhani Square, where protests erupted on January 8.

Witness accounts circulating on social media described the area as being under heavy security throughout Monday night, with some reporting brief confrontations between security forces and people gathered near the square. Iran International could not independently verify the reports.

Twelve young men convicted in what became known as the Alikhani Square case were sentenced to death. Two of them—Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari—were executed on July 19.

Before the executions, a source close to Safari's family told Iran International that relatives had been summoned to Isfahan Central Prison for what they believed could be a final visit.

Iranian authorities accuse the defendants of involvement in the killing of four security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism during the January protests. Officials say four members of the Basij militia and Special Unit forces were killed during clashes in the area.

UN had urged halt to executions

Earlier on Monday, UN experts led by Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, urged the authorities to halt the executions of the ten remaining defendants.

"Sentencing 12 people to death in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility violates established fair trial standards," the experts said.

They said the defendants, aged from their late teens to their early twenties, were reportedly subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and, in some cases, ill-treatment.

According to the experts, the convictions relied heavily on confessions broadcast on state television, while Revolutionary Court hearings were held behind closed doors and the judgments were never made public.

Among those still facing execution is Shervin Bagherian Jebeli, who turned 18 only days before his arrest.

Iran's state television broadcast footage of Jebeli confessing to violence against security officers within a week of his detention and before any trial, the experts said.

The executions bring the number of people put to death in the Alikhani Square case to four, leaving eight others still under sentence of death despite mounting international calls for Iran to halt the executions.

The scaffold was installed in Alikhani Square, where protests erupted on January 8.

Twelve young men convicted in what became known as the Alikhani Square case were sentenced to death. Two of them—Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari—were executed on July 19.

Witness accounts circulating on social media described Alikhani Square as being under heavy security on Monday night.

A source close to the family of Amirhossein Safari, another defendant in the case, told Iran International that relatives had been summoned to Isfahan Central Prison for what they believed could be a final visit.

The concerns were echoed by prominent Iranian activist Mehdi Mahmoudian, who wrote on X that several families of the ten remaining death-row prisoners in the Alikhani Square case had also been instructed to report to the prison for final visits.

Mahmoudian identified cousins Alireza Sepahi and Abolfazl Sepahi among those facing what he described as an imminent risk of execution. He also noted that two other defendants in the case had already been executed.

The visible deployment of security forces around the scaffold has further fuelled fears that additional executions could be carried out publicly.

Iranian authorities accuse the defendants of involvement in the killing of four security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism during the January protests. Officials say four members of the Basij militia and Special Unit forces were killed during clashes in the area.

UN condemns death sentences

Earlier on Monday, UN experts led by Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, urged the authorities to halt the executions of the ten remaining defendants.

"Sentencing 12 people to death in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility violates established fair trial standards," the experts said.

They said the defendants, aged from their late teens to their early twenties, were reportedly subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and, in some cases, ill-treatment.

According to the experts, the convictions relied heavily on confessions broadcast on state television, while Revolutionary Court hearings were held behind closed doors and the judgments were never made public.

Among those still facing execution is Shervin Bagherian Jebeli, who turned 18 only days before his arrest.

Iran’s state television broadcast footage of Jebeli confessing to violence against security officers within a week of his detention and before any trial, the experts said.

They added that Jebeli appeared unaware of the meaning of the capital charge against him—moharebeh, or "enmity against God"—raising concerns that he had not had access to legal counsel of his own choosing.

"Confessions obtained under coercion must never be admitted as evidence, and broadcasting them before trial violates the presumption of innocence," the experts said.

Mahmoudian said the Alikhani Square case, like many other political and security prosecutions in Iran, had been marked by serious legal irregularities, denial of fair trial guarantees and widespread humanitarian concerns.

With a scaffold now standing in Alikhani Square and families reporting final prison visits, relatives fear the remaining death sentences could soon be carried out despite mounting international pressure.

Rallies were held on July 25-27 in cities across Germany, the United States, Britain, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, Greece and New Zealand. Participants commemorated the Pahlavi dynasty, waved Iran's pre-1979 lion-and-sun flag and chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic.

In Berlin, demonstrators endorsed Prince Reza Pahlavi as a leader for a political transition and called on the international community to support Iranians' demands for freedom, democracy and change.

Similar gatherings took place in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Hanover, where participants chanted "King Reza Pahlavi" and "The lion-and-sun flag shines across the world."

Rallies across Europe and North America

In London, Iranians held a memorial in the city center, highlighting what participants described as the legacy of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah.

Events were also held in several US cities. Los Angeles hosted a ceremony honoring the Pahlavi monarchs, while New York held a gathering attended by Iranian cultural, political and social figures to commemorate the last Shah of Iran.

In Sweden, demonstrators marched through central Stockholm chanting "No to the Islamic Republic" and expressing support for a democratic transition. Similar events took place in Malmö and Gothenburg, where participants sang the patriotic song Ey Iran.

Events span

In Melbourne, Iranians marked the 47th anniversary of Mohammad Reza Shah's death by planting a Persian cypress tree, which organizers described as a symbol of resilience. Similar commemorations were held in Perth.

In Canada, participants in Calgary praised the Pahlavi dynasty's role in Iran's modernization and expressed support for Prince Reza Pahlavi during a transition from the Islamic Republic.

Additional gatherings were reported in Bern, Helsinki, Lisbon, Athens, Madrid and Auckland, underscoring the continued visibility of monarchist supporters within the Iranian diaspora.

“The bombs are making noise and the world is looking at Iran, but what about the silence that is killing innocent people every day?” Azadeh Afsahi, founder of Iran House, told Iran International’s Eye for Iran podcast.

Rights groups say the war did not create the crackdown but has provided political cover for the Islamic Republic to fast-track death sentences, conceal executions from families and intimidate a population already traumatized by the violent suppression of nationwide protests in January.

Accelerated executions raise alarm

Rights groups estimate that around 100 political prisoners and protesters have received death sentences, while hundreds more face capital charges. More than 70 people are awaiting execution in Dastgerd Prison in the central city of Isfahan, according to Iran Human Rights.

Iran Human Rights says at least 24 people have been executed in connection with the January protests since March 19, most recently Mehdi Khaneki, a 26-year-old law graduate who was put to death on July 22.

Others have been executed over alleged ties to banned opposition groups or on espionage charges.

Those facing execution include people arrested following protests in Isfahan on January 8.

Iran executed Erfan Esfandiari, reportedly 18, and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old Afghan national, on July 19. Iranian authorities accused them of involvement in the deaths of four members of the security forces.

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Rights groups say the defendants were denied fair trials and access to independent legal representation. Ten other men prosecuted in the same case remain at risk of execution, according to UN investigators.

The UN Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission called on Tehran on Thursday to halt the executions immediately. It said relatives of at least two prisoners had been summoned for what appeared to be final visits, raising fears that further executions could be imminent.

The mission also raised alarm over efforts to expedite protest-related proceedings. It noted that Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi announced on July 15 that cases connected to the protests and recent hostilities had been finalized and referred to court following an order from judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to accelerate proceedings.

ARTICLE 19, citing figures compiled by Hengaw, said Iran executed 109 people in June, including three women—a 10% increase from the same month last year. Only seven of those executions were officially announced, while at least 12 families received no advance notice, according to the organization.

The lack of warning has left some relatives learning about executions through official media.

According to AFP, the family of Vahid Baniamerian, a 34-year-old physics lecturer, received no warning before his execution. A relative said they were still awaiting a Supreme Court review when reports of his imminent execution began appearing in state media.

Baniamerian was executed alongside five other men convicted of alleged membership in the outlawed People’s Mujahedin Organization.

The executions also drew a response from US President Donald Trump, who wrote “Savages!!!” while reposting an image and account of Mohammadi’s execution. He also shared posts about Esfandiari.

Trump had previously warned Tehran against executing protesters. During the January 2026 uprising, he said the United States would take “very strong action” if authorities carried out hangings and told Iranians that “help is on its way.”

Human rights advocates, however, say public condemnation has not been matched by sufficient action.

Fear of another uprising

Shahin Milani, executive director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, said the regime views internal rebellion as a greater threat to its survival than the prospect of a large-scale foreign invasion.

He said the Islamic Republic may fear its own population more than US military action. “The most serious threat that they face is from internal rebellion. This is from Iranian people bringing the regime down.”

Milani said the severity of the January crackdown demonstrated how seriously the authorities viewed that threat.

“They set a new standard in their own regime for brutality,” he said.

The executions, Milani argued, are intended both to frighten the wider population and demonstrate strength to regime supporters who might otherwise consider defecting.

He said they may delay further unrest but cannot resolve the economic hardship and political discontent driving opposition to the government.

“You cannot kill your way out of economic misery and discontent,” he said, predicting renewed demonstrations could emerge within months or years.

Afsahi said the crackdown has deepened depression and trauma among survivors and victims’ families, while international attention remains concentrated on the military conflict.

“Everybody cares about the bombs, but nobody cares about the hanging that is happening every day,” she said.

Despite that trauma, Afsahi said many survivors remain prepared to protest again.

“They’re just waiting,” she said. “They’re ready for that next ignition to be able to go out again.”

Brandon Silver, an international human rights lawyer and director at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, said the executions should be viewed within the broader context of Iran’s record of domestic repression.

He pointed to the country’s high rates of executions, executions of people convicted of crimes allegedly committed as children, state hostage-taking and imprisonment of journalists.

“There is an effort to obfuscate, to hide these staggering statistics,” Silver said, describing the executions as part of “an ongoing campaign of mass domestic repression.”

He argued that abuses inside Iran have repeatedly spilled beyond its borders through hostage-taking and alleged plots targeting journalists, dissidents and human rights advocates abroad.

“When they’re able to carry this out within Iran, it puts all of us everywhere in danger,” he said.

Silver called on governments to move beyond statements by expelling officials involved in repression, imposing visa bans and freezing and seizing the foreign assets of regime figures. Those assets, he proposed, should be redirected to victims of the Islamic Republic.

Iranian prisoners have also begun challenging the execution campaign from inside the country. About 1,500 prisoners sentenced to death for drug-related offenses in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison have staged a hunger strike and sit-in since July 13. The protest began after six inmates were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for execution.

The protest has added a rare form of resistance from inside Iran’s prisons to the growing international campaign against the executions, according to the advocates interviewed by Eye for Iran.

They said the executions may demonstrate the regime’s capacity for repression, but they also reveal its fear that the anger driving Iran’s protest movement remains unresolved.

The war may have pushed that movement out of the headlines. It has not, they warned, eliminated it.