Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 4 October 2026: Alireza Sepahi Badjani, a protester sentenced to death in connection with the Isfahan protests on 8 January, is at imminent risk of execution after his family were summoned for a visit at Isfahan Central Prison.
On 28 July, Alireza survived public hanging after suffering from a heart attack shortly before the scheduled execution and was previously transferred to the gallows in September. Five of his co-defendants in the “Alikhani Square” case have been executed since 19 July.
According to Shahrzad Shahbazi, Alireza Sepahi’s lawyer, his family were summoned for a family visit on 4 October 2026. Families are typically summoned for visitation prior to scheduled executions. She wrote: “My client, Alireza Sepahi, breathes today; perhaps not tomorrow.”
The 25-year-old protester was arrested at his home along with his mother on 10 January. He is one of at least a dozen defendants in the case who were accused of participating in the murder of four policemen in Isfahan’s Alikhani Square on 8 January.
On 31 July, IHRNGO reported that Alireza was scheduled to be publicly hanged on 28 July which was halted after he suffered a heart attack, warning that Alireza and five of his co-defendants were at grave risk of execution. On 2 September, Alireza’s lawyer, Shahrzad Shahbazi reported that Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had accepted his appeal and referred the case to a court of equal standing for retrial. However, Branch Two of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court had dismissed the application without a hearing.
IHRNGO issued another warning on 12 September after Alireza was transferred to the pre-execution solitary confinement cells of the prison.
Five defendants in the case have been executed so far, with two of them carried out publicly. Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi were executed at the prison on 19 July, Alireza’s cousin, Abolfazl Sepahi and Amirhossein Safari were publicly hanged in Alikhani Square, the scene of the alleged offences, on 28 July, and Ghaem Hosseini was executed at the prison on 20 August.