Iran sentences two more protesters to death as executions surge

Neda Dadehjani and Setayesh (Behnoush) Sarabi were summoned to a court in Qorveh on Saturday, August 22, where they were flogged before being transferred to the women’s ward of Sanandaj Central Prison, according to the Geneva-based Hana Human Rights Organization and Kurdish rights outlet Kolbar News.

A criminal court in Qorveh had sentenced each woman to one year in prison, 31 lashes and two years of exile in Nikshahr, in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, after convicting them of “disrupting public peace and order.”

In a separate proceeding, the Qorveh Revolutionary Court sentenced each to another two years in prison for “assembly and collusion to commit a crime against internal security.”

The two women were first arrested by security forces during the January 2026 protests in Qorveh.

Kolbar News said Dadehjani and Sarabi had applied to serve their prison terms under electronic monitoring but received no response before being summoned to court.

Dadehjani is an artist, puppeteer, costume designer and theater makeup artist.

Hana condemned the flogging as “state torture and a tool for intimidating society” and called for the women’s release and access to independent medical care.

The group also questioned the enforcement of the flogging alongside the prison sentences, arguing that it was inconsistent with Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which governs multiple convictions and sentences.

The cases come amid a broader crackdown following the January protests, during which courts have handed down prison terms, flogging, exile and death sentences.

Other people detained in connection with the protests have also received flogging sentences in recent weeks, according to rights groups.

Iran’s judiciary has used flogging against artists and activists in previous years, including singer Mehdi Yarrahi and campaigner Roya Heshmati, whose sentences were carried out.

Iran allegedly plotted to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eldest son, Yair, while he was living in South Florida, Newsmax reported on Wednesday, citing a US law enforcement source familiar with the matter.

Israeli intelligence learned of the alleged plot in December and alerted US authorities, according to the source. Iranian operatives were believed to be in the Miami area and to have conducted surveillance of Yair Netanyahu’s home and movements.

The 35-year-old, who lived in Hallandale Beach and was accompanied by an Israeli security detail, was reportedly instructed to leave immediately. He departed without collecting his belongings and returned to Israel, where he now lives.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that some news organizations had known about the alleged plot for months but were prevented from publishing details by Israeli military censorship.

Benjamin Netanyahu first disclosed the alleged assassination attempt during an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 on Monday but did not identify which of his two sons had been targeted.

“There is something here that is unbelievable. Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to murder him, tried to murder one of my sons,” Netanyahu said while defending government-funded security for his family.

In July, Israel extended Shin Bet protection for Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, and his sons, Yair and Avner. The two sons are expected to retain protection for five years after Netanyahu leaves office, Newsmax reported.

The alleged plot emerged amid longstanding US accusations that Iran has pursued assassination operations abroad in retaliation for the US killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.

US prosecutors charged an alleged Iranian asset, Farhad Shakeri, in 2024 over what they described as an IRGC-directed plan to assassinate Donald Trump.

In 2022, the Justice Department charged IRGC member Shahram Poursafi with offering $300,000 to arrange the killing of former US national security adviser John Bolton.

Iranian state television also recently broadcast a video threatening Trump’s son Barron and claiming that his movements and security arrangements had been monitored.

The US Secret Service said it was aware of the broadcast and investigated threats against those under its protection.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman ended prolonged hunger strikes but have lost significant weight and are trying to regain their strength, the family said in a statement.

"The Embassy is back in Iran. So where is the action? Where is the urgency?" said Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son and the family's spokesperson.

First call in three months

Bennett said he had spoken properly with his mother for the first time in three months in a 12-minute call, their first official conversation since the couple ended their hunger strikes.

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  Iran extends British prisoner's sentence by two years, family says

"After three months, just hearing Mum's voice properly again was an enormous relief," Bennett said. "They have both lost a lot of weight and they know that rebuilding their health isn't going to happen overnight."

He said his mother had described some of the lowest points of the hunger strikes but sounded mentally strong and remained convinced that the detention was temporary.

The family said the couple had not received proper medical examinations after the hunger strikes and called on British officials to visit them in person.

"They have been seen by the Embassy only once this year. After everything they have been through, that is not good enough," Bennett said.

Family seeks meeting with foreign secretary

The family also called for a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and urged the government to use diplomatic and legal channels to secure the couple's release.

"We have had a phone call. That matters enormously to us. But a phone call is not enough," Bennett said.

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  British couple sentenced to 10 years in Iran for espionage, family says

The Foremans, both in their 50s, were arrested in January last year while traveling through Iran by motorcycle on a journey from Europe to Australia. They deny espionage charges for which they were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in February.

Craig Foreman was given an additional two-year sentence in July after Iranian authorities accused him of speaking to the media from prison, according to his family.

UN special rapporteurs have called for the couple's release, saying their detention and trial raised concerns over basic fair-trial guarantees. Britain has said it is working to secure their release and that their welfare remains a priority.

Intercepted radio communications, video footage and eyewitness accounts point to security forces operating from several mosques in and around the capital on January 8 and 9, when protests drew large crowds and authorities launched a deadly crackdown.

In one intercepted exchange, security personnel discussed deploying forces and equipment inside Imam Hossein Mosque, which Iran International geolocated to the intersection of Sattari and Mokhbari in western Tehran.

Witnesses described security operations around the mosque as electricity was cut in the area and surveillance drones flew overhead.

Other locations identified through footage and witness accounts included mosques along Andarzgoo Boulevard and Qolhak Grand Mosque.

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Witnesses also described security personnel positioned outside some mosques engaging protesters before forces inside emerged to beat and arrest them.

Taken together, the evidence suggests some mosques served not simply as gathering points but as bases from which security forces monitored and confronted protesters.

Shooting from rooftops

Several eyewitnesses described mosque rooftops being used as observation or firing positions.

One witness described several people positioned on the roof of a mosque near Kashani Boulevard in western Tehran on January 8.

“The sound of a stun grenade could be heard,” the witness said. “Once the crowd scattered a little, they started shooting from above.”

In Naziabad in southern Tehran, another witness described protesters coming under fire from elevated positions.

“They were being shot at from the rooftops of mosques and Basij bases,” the witness said.

Witnesses in the area described security forces firing directly at crowds and from elevated positions, with a number of protesters wounded or killed.

Video footage obtained by Iran International also showed surveillance drones flying above crowds during the protests.

Other witnesses described security personnel monitoring protesters with cameras from inside mosques. Some said windows at mosque buildings had been broken to create positions from which weapons could be fired and described seeing weapons fitted with laser sights.

In several areas, witnesses also said security forces pursued protesters who sought refuge in residential buildings or private parking garages, beating some of those sheltering inside and preventing injured protesters from leaving to seek medical treatment.

Iran International was not able to independently verify each of those accounts or determine who was responsible for individual shots seen or heard in footage.

Allegations of fires

Some witnesses alleged that security personnel themselves damaged or set fire to mosques that authorities could subsequently portray as having been attacked by protesters.

One witness also said security forces left gas valves open at a mosque before departing, creating the risk of a fire or explosion.

Iran International could not independently verify those accounts or establish whether any fires at the sites were deliberately started by security forces.

The allegations are significant because Iranian authorities repeatedly portrayed damage to mosques and other religious sites during the January unrest as evidence of violence by protesters.

Civilian sites used in crackdowns

The apparent use of mosques as operational sites in Tehran follows evidence that security forces used other civilian buildings during the January crackdown.

A separate Iran International investigation in neighboring Alborz province found security forces using a public library as an ammunition store and staging point, schools and mosques as gathering places for armed personnel, and the roof of a cinema as a firing position.

There is also precedent for security forces operating from or around religious sites during earlier protests.
Human Rights Watch documented security forces firing on protesters and bystanders from rooftops around Zahedan’s Grand Mosalla prayer hall and Makki Mosque during the September 2022 crackdown known as Bloody Friday.

The United Nations separately documented the use of live ammunition, tear gas and metal pellets against protesters following Friday prayers in Zahedan, with footage analyzed by the UN appearing to show security forces firing from rooftops.

The evidence gathered in Tehran suggests some mosques became part of the security apparatus during the January crackdown: used to assemble personnel and equipment, monitor crowds and, according to multiple eyewitnesses, confront protesters.

Afshin Heyratian’s days often began at 6 a.m. He would leave his home in Tehran and spend the day volunteering with an organization helping working children, Afghan children without birth certificates and others whose legal status could prevent them from accessing education.

Sometimes his work meant teaching. Sometimes it meant painting rooms or repairing tables and chairs. Often, it was simply spending time with the children and trying to make them happy.

“That was his passion,” his older brother, Ramin Heyratian, told Iran International’s Eye for Iran. “If one virtue was supposed to define a person, it is his kindness.”

A playwright and screenwriter, Afshin also helped friends write productions without receiving credit because of restrictions imposed on him, according to Ramin, who said this was his brother’s third imprisonment

A life interrupted

His latest ordeal began after he was questioned at the school where he volunteered. Security forces came to the family home on November 11, 2025, and arrested him.

Agents confiscated phones, tablets, computers, Baha’í books and even Baha’í pictures hanging on the walls, according to his brother.

Afshin then spent 34 days in solitary confinement. For the first days after his arrest, his family did not even know where he was.

Eventually, he was permitted to call his mother and tell her to prepare the deed to the family home, raising hopes that it could be used as collateral for his release.

The release never came.

Ramin said Afshin remained imprisoned for more than 260 days before being charged, while his mother was repeatedly sent between courts trying to find out what was happening.

“They were sending her back and forth almost every day,” he said.

Afshin had an opportunity to build a life outside Iran in the early 2000s and spent time in the United States, but ultimately chose to return.

“He truly loves Iran and Iranians,” Ramin said.

The case has drawn international condemnation. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has called for his release, while the Canadian government described his treatment as an example of Iran’s “continued disregard for human rights.”.

‘No lawyer, no warning’

The ordeal has been particularly devastating for Afshin’s mother, an 80-year-old cancer survivor.

She can now visit her youngest son approximately once every two or three weeks, Ramin said. Afshin is also allowed to telephone her each day.

Ramin said the family had been told Afshin would receive legal representation and that they would be notified before his court date.

Neither happened.

Instead, one of Afshin’s fellow prisoners alerted his own family that Afshin had been taken to court. Afshin’s mother learned what was happening while she was on her way to an oncology appointment.

She rushed to the courthouse.

Ramin said she waited in the hallways, trying to determine where her son was, until she suddenly heard Afshin behind her as he emerged from court.

By then, the hearing was over.

Afshin pleaded not guilty but had no lawyer representing him, Ramin said.

“He was basically his own lawyer,” he said.

When his mother asked how he was doing, Afshin reassured her.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine,” Ramin recalled him saying.

‘Life sentence’

Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Heyratian to prison terms totaling 31 years, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

The sentences included 12 years for “forming an illegal group,” 11 years for “propaganda activities contrary to the sacred law of Islam,” six years for “assembly and collusion,” and two years over allegations of “obtaining illegitimate property.” Financial penalties were also imposed.

Under Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, only the most severe sentence, 12 years, is expected to be enforceable.

Ramin rejects the allegations against his brother.

“The things that they have attached to those charges … are, first of all, completely untrue,” he said, adding that the organization where Afshin volunteered had been permitted to operate in Iran.

Iran’s Baha’í community has faced decades of state persecution and restrictions on education, employment and other aspects of public life. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the Baha’í faith as one of the country’s protected religious minorities.

Ramin said the length of his brother’s punishment was extraordinary even by the standards of that persecution.

“At Afshin’s age, this can be a life sentence,” he said, adding that the family had not abandoned hope.

“We believe that the future of Iran is absolutely brilliant,” Ramin said. “We are hoping for that to happen soon.”