Baluch Political Prisoner Mohammad Aref Shahbakhsh Hanged

According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, Mohammad Aref Shahbakhsh, a Baluch political prisoner, was executed at an unspecified location on 7 November 2026. He was sentenced to death on charges of “baghy (armed rebellion) and moharebeh (enmity against God) through an armed attack on the Ghaleh Bid police station in Khash county that resulted in the death and injury of police personnel.” Although Mizan’s report did not specify the location of his executin, it most likely took place in Zahedan Central Prison, which IHRNGO is working to verify.

According to the Baluch Human Rights Documentation Network, Mohammad Aref was around 27 years old, had been arrested on 29 August 2024 and held incommunicado for 52 days. 

Mohammad Aref’s older brother, Hamed, was executed for drug-related charges in Bam Prison on 14 August 2024. 

Since March 2026, at least 16 political prisoners have been executed for affiliation with banned opposition groups. Of those, nine were in connection with the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), four with Baluch groups Jaysh al-Adl and al-Furqan, two with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and one with Reza Pahlavi.