HRANA – At dawn today, Tuesday, September 16, the death sentences of two prisoners previously convicted on drug-related charges were carried out in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj.
HRANA has identified the executed prisoners as Masoud Okhtizadeh, from Kuhdasht, and Akbar Emami, from Nourabad.
Information obtained by HRANA indicates that both men had been arrested on charges related to narcotics offenses and later sentenced to death by Revolutionary Courts.
As of the time of this report, the executions have not been officially announced by prison authorities or other responsible institutions.
According to HRANA’s statistics, Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj carried out the highest number of executions among all Iranian prisons, with 150 inmates hanged. This figure has nearly doubled compared to the previous year – a deeply alarming increase that underscores the escalating use of capital punishment in Iran.
HRANA News Agency – Following the mass transfer of political and security prisoners from Evin Prison to facilities such as Qarchak Varamin, the Greater Tehran Penitentiary, and Ghezel Hesar in Karaj, reports indicate that these relocations were conducted without regard for fundamental standards — including separation based on offense type, adequate living conditions, access to basic services, and the right to contact family members. These abrupt and forced transfers were made without transparent communication from the responsible authorities, sparking serious concern among the prisoners’ families.
A photo showing damage to Ward 209, the bakery, and the medical clinic at Evin Prison.
In addition to causing infrastructural damage, the attack on Evin Prison has led to psychological distress and serious concerns for the families of prisoners. As of the time of this report, officials have not provided clear information about the status and conditions of the transferred prisoners.
Overcrowding
According to information obtained by HRANA, following the mass transfer of male political prisoners from Evin Prison, more than 70 individuals were relocated to Quarantine Unit 3 at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. These prisoners are enduring severe shortages of basic necessities and face tight restrictions on communicating with their families.
Female political prisoners who were abruptly and forcibly transferred to Qarchak Varamin Prison were initially confined in a cramped, unsanitary quarantine ward. They were later moved to a gymnasium lacking even the most basic facilities, including beds, and equipped with only a few restrooms. Eventually, they were returned to the quarantine ward, where they continue to be held in conditions that disregard crime-based classification and fail to meet minimum living standards.
At Greater Tehran Prison, inmates housed in Halls 3 and 4 of Ward 2 are being held in rooms that far exceed their intended capacity of 20 people. This extreme overcrowding has led to widespread floor-sleeping, heightened tensions among inmates, and a serious deterioration in sanitary conditions.
Poor Sanitation and Living Conditions
Sanitary conditions in Qarchak and Greater Tehran prisons have been reported as extremely poor. A family member of one of the women transferred to Qarchak told HRANA that in the prison’s gym and quarantine ward, there are only two toilets and one shower for dozens of inmates. The quarantine space is very small and unhygienic, and in the hot summer weather, access to outdoor areas is practically impossible. Reports speak of infestations of insects and pests such as mice, and even snakes in prisoners’ sleeping quarters.
According to HRANA, similar conditions exist in Greater Tehran Prison, where 70 to 80 inmates must share one toilet, one sink, and one shower. This lack of sanitary facilities significantly raises the risk of infectious and skin diseases, endangering prisoners’ health.
Limited Access to Food and Drinking Water
The food and clean water situation in Qarchak and Greater Tehran prisons is described as critical. In Qarchak, the tap water is salty and contaminated, making it undrinkable, and many prisoners must pay for bottled water. The prison has only one central kitchen that provides low-quality, insufficient food. Dinner is distributed at 4 p.m., and prisoners are forced to eat cold, tasteless meals at any later time. There is a fast food outlet in the prison, but prices are high and unaffordable for most inmates.
In Greater Tehran Penitentiary, the increase in prisoner numbers has seriously disrupted food distribution. According to a prisoner’s family, some inmates receive meals late or receive incomplete portions. Drinking water is also undrinkable due to its poor quality and high salinity, with no suitable alternatives available. Combined with the lack of hygiene facilities, this has created serious physical problems for prisoners.
Lack of Medical Services
Female prisoners in Qarchak and many of the inmates transferred to Greater Tehran Prison have been denied access to medical services. According to a relative of one prisoner, Qarchak provides no medical care or basic health facilities for women, who are held in security conditions without sanitary support. Greater Tehran Prison faces similar issues; for example, Morteza Seydi, who was injured during the Israeli airstrike, has been denied even the most basic treatment despite having a severe hand infection.
Restricted Contact with Families
Prisoners transferred to Qarchak and Ghezel Hesar are facing severe restrictions on contact with their families. At Qarchak, political prisoners held in the quarantine ward have been almost completely cut off from the outside world. According to a relative of one incarcerated woman, phone calls were still prohibited as of yesterday, with only a single malfunctioning phone available—enabling some prisoners to place short calls lasting just two to five minutes. Meanwhile, political and security detainees sent to Ghezel Hesar are being held under strict security conditions and have been entirely denied access to phone communication with their families.
On social media, relatives and friends of political prisoners transferred to Greater Tehran and Qarchak prisons have shared posts raising concerns about their conditions. Keyvan Mohtadi stated that his wife Anisha Asadollahi, along with Raheleh Rahemipour and Kobra Beiki, were transferred to Qarchak. He reported a lack of basic facilities, overcrowding, and that prisoners’ belongings were left behind in Evin. He emphasized that the situation is even harder for elderly inmates like Rahemipour and Beiki.
A social media page associated with Varisheh Moradi expressed concern about her health in Qarchak, stating that the transfer has disrupted access to medical care for ill prisoners.
Another page associated with Mostafa Mehraeen, who was arrested on June 15, reported that he was transferred to Greater Tehran Penitentiary but remains in solitary confinement and has so far had only one brief phone call with his family.
It is important to note that on Monday, June 23, amid Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, Evin Prison was directly hit. Multiple sections of the facility were damaged, including the main entrance gate, the on-site courthouse, the medical clinic, Ward 209, the bakery, and the visitation hall. The attack resulted in the death or injury of several conscripted soldiers, while dozens of prison staff and inmate laborers—some of whom were gardening at the time—were also reported wounded. In the aftermath, the Prisons Organization announced the transfer of Evin’s inmates to various detention facilities across Tehran Province.
HRANA – Aydin Shari’atmadar, a death row prisoner held for nearly two decades in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, was fatally shot by police on Saturday, June 7, during an attempted escape from Imam Ali Hospital.
According to the HRANA, Shari’atmadar had been transferred to the hospital due to internal bleeding. While hospitalized, he reportedly overpowered the accompanying officers with the help of armed individuals believed to be his relatives and attempted to flee. Police opened fire after issuing a warning, killing him at the scene.
News of Shari’atmadar’s death sparked protests among inmates at Ghezel Hesar. Dozens of prisoners reportedly chanted slogans such as “Freedom or death,” and for several hours, they prevented the prison yard gates from being closed.
The protest prompted a heightened security presence inside the facility. Unconfirmed reports also suggest limited clashes between inmates and prison guards, though no official statements have been released regarding the incident.
HRANA News Agency – On Wednesday, May 28, Mizan, Iranian Judiciary’s media center, announced the execution of Pedram Madani, a prisoner convicted of espionage. He had recently been transferred from Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
The Judiciary’s media outlet claimed that “Mr. Madani was arrested and prosecuted in 2020 on charges of espionage for the Zionist regime, under the accusations of ‘enmity against God’ (Moharebeh) and ‘spreading corruption on Earth.’ Following the completion of legal proceedings and the Supreme Court’s confirmation of the verdict, the execution was carried out.”
This claim comes despite a video released yesterday by Madani’s mother, in which she stated that her son had been sentenced to death without a fair trial.
Earlier this week, Pedram Madani was transferred from Ward 4 of Evin Prison to a solitary confinement cell in Ghezel Hesar Prison.
Pedram Madani was 41 years old and the father of one child.
In 2024, according to 812 reports compiled by HRANA, the Iranian regime executed 930 individuals in its prisons—marking the highest number of executions in the past 12 years. Despite the scale of these executions, prison officials and other relevant authorities publicly acknowledged only 6% of them, highlighting the regime’s lack of transparency and accountability.
HRANA News Agency – At dawn on Wednesday, May 21, two prisoners previously sentenced to death on charges related to drug trafficking and murder were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
HRANA has identified the executed individuals as Halim Brahouei (Brahui), 67, originally from Zahedan and residing in Karaj, and Jahanshah Afshari.
According to information obtained by HRANA, Mr. Brahouei had been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court for transporting 145 kilograms of narcotics into Tehran. Mr. Afshari had received a death sentence in connection with a murder charge.
As of the time of this report, the executions have not been officially confirmed by prison authorities or relevant state institutions.
According to HRANA’s statistics, Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj carried out the highest number of executions among all Iranian prisons, with 150 inmates hanged. This figure has nearly doubled compared to the previous year — a deeply alarming increase that underscores the escalating use of capital punishment in Iran.
HRANA News Agency – Akbar Bagheri, a political detainee, remains in custody at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj more than 177 days after his arrest, with his legal status still unresolved.
Based on information received by HRANA, Mr. Bagheri has been imprisoned for nearly six months. He remains in a state of legal uncertainty at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. His court hearing will be held on May 13, 2025, at Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari. He is charged with “assembly and collusion to disrupt national security through cooperation with opposition groups.”
Bagheri was transferred from Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar in mid-February 2024. He is currently held in Ward 4 of the facility.
Mr. Bagheri, who suffers from blood-related hemoglobin disorders, intestinal and liver issues, and hemorrhoids, was arrested by security forces in Tehran on November 10, 2023.
He was previously arrested in 2017 by security forces in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison. In the summer of 2018, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati, sentenced him to nine years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion.” This sentence was later upheld in the appeals court. Following the events at Evin Prison in October 2022, he was transferred along with several others to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj. He was eventually released on May 8, 2023, under a general pardon directive.
HRANA News Agency – The prison sentences of political prisoners Reza Mohammad-Hosseini and Mahboobeh Rezaei have each been reduced to five years following the acceptance of their request for retrial and a re-examination of their cases by Branch 21 of the Tehran Province Court of Appeals. They were previously sentenced to six years and three months in prison.
Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, their attorney, announced today, Sunday, May 4, that following the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the retrial request in January 2025, their cases were referred to a parallel branch for review. Branch 21 of the Tehran Appeals Court reduced their sentences to five years each.
Mahboobeh Rezaei was arrested by security forces on May 22, 2023, and later transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison. She was ultimately sentenced by Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court to 19 years and 9 months in prison and a fine of eight million tomans on charges including: “membership in anti-state groups with the aim of disrupting national security,” “assembly and collusion against national security,” “propaganda against the regime,” “blasphemy,” “removing hijab and showing the act of depravity on the Internet.”
Reza Mohammad-Hosseini was arrested in May 2023 at his home by security forces. In January 2024, he was sentenced by Branch 36 of the Tehran Appeals Court to 14 years and 6 months in prison and a fine on charges including: “membership in anti-state groups with the aim of disrupting national security,” “assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,” “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and “disobedience toward law enforcement officers during duty.” He is currently serving his sentence in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
HRANA News Agency – Today, April 30, alongside the execution of Mohsen Langarneshin, a political prisoner, in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, three other inmates previously sentenced to death on drug-related and murder charges were also executed.
In addition to the execution of Mohsen Langarneshin—who had been convicted of espionage and collaboration with hostile governments—three other inmates were also put to death. HRANA has confirmed the identity of one of them as Asghar Vatanparast, sentenced to death for drug-related offenses. The two others were executed on murder charges, though their identities have not yet been confirmed.
Further details, including the identities of the two other individuals executed, are still under investigation by HRANA.
Earlier, HRANA had reported the transfer of 11 inmates to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions.
As of the time of this report, the executions of these three prisoners have not been officially announced by prison authorities or relevant institutions.
According to data gathered by the Department of Statistics and Publication of Human Rights Activists, Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj witnessed the highest number of executions in 2024. For a comprehensive examination of the details and statistics surrounding the executions in Iran, refer to HRANA’s report.
HRANA News Agency – Today, April 30, Mizan, the Judiciary’s media center, announced the execution of Mohsen Langarneshin (Langar-Neshin), a prisoner accused of espionage and collaboration with hostile governments. His mother had released a video the previous day stating that she had her final visit with him at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
Mizan claimed that Mr. Langarneshin had been arrested and tried on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) and corruption on earth due to alleged intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the “Zionist regime.” The report claimed that “throughout interrogation, prosecution, and trial, he fully confessed to the crimes and detailed the actions he had taken when presented with the flawless evidence in the case.” The statement added that “after completing the full criminal procedure and the Supreme Court’s confirmation, the sentence was carried out.”
These claims come despite a recent statement to HRANA from a source close to the family, who said: “Mohsen had been promised that if he repeated what the interrogators wanted on camera, he would only face imprisonment. As a result, the confessions were extracted under pressure and coercion.”
Earlier this week, Langarneshin had been transferred to a solitary confinement cell in Ghezel Hesar Prison for the execution of his sentence.
The death sentence had previously been issued by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, head of Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, and was upheld by Branch 41 of the Supreme Court. Three requests for a retrial were rejected by the Supreme Court. According to informed sources close to the family, the most recent request, filed in recent days, was dismissed within two days without any legal explanation.
Masoud Langarneshin, Mohsen’s father, also released a video the previous day asserting that his son had been sentenced to death without a fair trial. He emphasized that the case was full of ambiguities and procedural flaws, and he appealed to the public and human rights organizations for support.
His mother, in her video message, expressed grave concern about the impending execution and said she had her final visit with Mohsen on Tuesday, April 29. She too pleaded for help from the public and human rights bodies.
A source close to Langarneshin told HRANA that “during detention, he was pressured to make forced confessions. He was told to say that he had transported a motorcycle to the Pol-e Choobi area and filmed there. He was also accused of having a role in surveillance operations related to General Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, who was assassinated in June 2022. Furthermore, he was taken to the specified location and forced to narrate a prewritten script by interrogators, which was filmed.”
According to the same source, “He was transferred to Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj on February 15, 2025. At that time, the official prison documents only mentioned a sentence of imprisonment, monetary fine, and restitution—there was no mention of a death sentence.”
Mohsen Langarneshin was arrested by security forces on July 3, 2023. He was held for 20 months in Evin Prison, including 12 months in The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility, known as Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
HRANA News Agency – Since the beginning of this week, Iranian prisons have witnessed a significant surge in executions. Over the past five days, at least 26 prisoners—mostly convicted of murder and drug-related offenses—have been executed across various prisons in Iran. Among them were five prisoners executed on political-security charges.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists in Iran, executions in Iranian prisons have sharply increased in recent days.
Since the start of the week, at least 26 prisoners have been executed in Ghezel Hesar (Karaj), Shiraz, Kermanshah, Gonabad, Shahrud, Vakilabad (Mashhad), Aligudarz, Bukan, Dezful, Qom, Zanjan, and Sepidar (Ahvaz) prisons. This averages over five executions per day. Vakilabad Prison alone accounted for at least 10 executions in a single day, the highest recorded among these facilities.
On Wednesday, April 9, four prisoners—Bahram Hodavand-Khani, Salar Amir Jalali, Abolfazl Karimi, and another unidentified individual—were executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison for separate murder cases. Also on Wednesday, Esmail Dahmardeh, convicted on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court of Gonabad, was executed in Gonabad Prison. Gholamreza Pardakhteh faced a similar fate in Shahroud Prison. Another prisoner, Kambiz Fathi, was hanged in Kermanshah Prison for murder. Two more prisoners, Vahid Ashouri (30) and Afghan national Saud Mirzaei, were executed in Shiraz Prison, both convicted of murder.
On Tuesday, April 8, at least 10 prisoners—including three women—were executed in Vakilabad Prison, Mashhad. Five of them—Farhad Shakeri, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, and Malek Ali Fadaie Nasab—were executed on political-security charges. Four others, including two women, were executed on drug-related charges. HRANA identified two of them as Ahmad Sanaie and Mohammadreza Damideh. Additionally, one woman convicted of murder was also executed at the same facility.
On Monday, April 7, Shahram Goodarzi (36) and Taher Shabani (35) were executed in Aligudarz Prison in separate murder cases. That same day, Seyed Taha Hassani, a prisoner from Bukan, was executed in Bukan Prison, and Hamid Abdouli was hanged in Dezful Prison—both convicted of murder.
On Sunday, April 6, a prisoner named Samir Ghasemi was executed in Qom Prison. He had been sentenced to death by the criminal court for murder.
On Saturday, April 5, Hossein Molazadeh (29), convicted on drug charges, was executed in Zanjan Prison. Simultaneously, Zahir Shamsi (32), a father of a five-year-old girl from Dezful, was executed in Sepidar Prison, Ahvaz. Shamsi had been arrested four years ago for the alleged murder of his cousin.
This recent escalation in executions has sparked serious concerns over widespread violations of the right to life in Iran. Human rights organizations consider Iran’s extensive use of the death penalty to be in stark violation of its international obligations and have called for an immediate moratorium on capital punishment.
