Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 2 November 2026: Five remaining defendants in the Alikhani Square case are at grave risk of execution in Isfahan Central Prison. The families of Amirhossein Maleki and Abolfazl Ebrahimi were summoned to the prison for last family visits today, while the Supreme Court has also recently rejected appeals for Shervin Bagherian, Amirhossein Ebrahimi and Ali Dashti. Seven other defendants, including two Afghan nationals, have been executed since 19 July, a frequency of one execution roughly every fortnight.
IHRNGO calls for urgent international action to stop the executions. Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated: “The Islamic Republic is preparing to execute two young protesters tomorrow after proceedings marked by torture, forced confessions and a complete lack of due process. Seven people have already been executed in the same case, and even the lawyers defending the accused have been targeted and imprisoned. These executions are part of a systematic campaign to terrorise society and silence dissent. Only international pressure can stop their executions now. We urge the international community, particularly countries with diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, to take urgent action to stop these executions and save the lives of those still at risk.”
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, the families of Amirhossein Maleki, 20, and Abolfazl Ebrahimi, 18, were summoned to Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison for their last visits on 2 November. They are scheduled to be executed on 3 November. At the same time, the Supreme Court has rejected the appeals for Amirhossein Ebrahimi, 20, Ali Dashti, 20, and Shervin Bagherian who was 17 at the time of the alleged offence, placing them at grave risk of execution.
The five young protesters were arrested in connection with protests in Isfahan’s Alikhani Square on 8 January, where authorities claimed four policemen were killed. According to informed IHRNGO sources, 62 people were arrested in relation to the case and at least a dozen were sentenced to death. IHRNGO has documented the use of physical, sexual and psychological torture to extract self-incriminating confessions from the defendants in the case.
On 23 January, state media broadcast the torture-tainted confessions of the defendants, with their faces blurred and names changed to conceal their identities. The forced confessions were used as part of a propaganda video titled “Shock Documentary: The Events of Dey 1404 (December 2025–January 2026) in Isfahan.”
Seven defendants in the case were previously executed, with two of them carried out publicly. Erfan Esfandiari and Gol Mohammad Mohammadi were executed at the prison on 19 July, Alireza Sepahi’s cousin, Abolfazl Sepahi and Amirhossein Safari were publicly hanged in Alikhani Square, the scene of the alleged offences, on 28 July, Ghaem Hosseini was executed at the prison on 20 August and Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raisi were hanged at the prison on 5 October.
Amirsalar Davoudi, a human rights lawyer who represented defendants in the “Alikhani Square” case, was arrested on 11 October after the execution of his client Alireza Sepahi. While threatening to bring trumped-up charges under Article 4 of the new Espionage Bill, Isfahan’s head of judiciary stated that Amirsalar was charged with “publishing falsehoods online to disturb public opinion, inciting people to kill one another with the intention of disrupting national security and propaganda against the system.”
IHRNGO previously reported that despite an explicit order issued by the prosecutor granting him contact with his family, enforcement officers continue to hold him incommunicado and deny him all phone calls and visits. Furthermore, the state-approved lawyer in the case has been barred from accessing his case file while authorities subject him to intense pressure to extract forced confessions.