HRANA – The death sentences of Yaghoub Karimpour, a follower of the Yarsan faith, and Naser Bakrzadeh, a political prisoner, were carried out at dawn today, Saturday, May 2. They had previously been sentenced to death on charges of “espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel.”
According to Mizan News Agency, in an official statement, the Judiciary announced that after the completion of legal proceedings and confirmation of their sentences by the Supreme Court, the two prisoners were executed early this morning. Yaghoub Karimpour had been sentenced to death on charges of “intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of Israel,” while Naser Bakrzadeh was sentenced on charges of “corruption on earth through cooperation with Mossad.”
The Judiciary’s media center listed the alleged charges against them as “sending information and images of military locations,” “sabotage operations,” “manufacturing sound bombs,” “gathering intelligence from sensitive centers,” and “field cooperation with Mossad officers.” However, a significant portion of the case evidence was reportedly based on confessions attributed to the defendants, and no independent information has been published regarding how these confessions were obtained.
HRANA had previously reported that Karimpour, a follower of the Yarsan faith, and Bakrzadeh, a political prisoner, were being held in Urmia Prison.
Karimpour’s death sentence was upheld in February by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court. The country’s highest judicial authority also confirmed Bakrzadeh’s death sentence for the third time, and this decision was formally communicated to him at the Urmia Prison sentence enforcement office on April 25 this year.
Karimpour was arrested by security forces in Miandoab in June of 2025 and transferred to The Ministry of Intelligence’s detention facility in Urmia. During his detention, he was denied access to a lawyer and family visits. A knowledgeable source had previously told HRANA that Karimpour was subjected to security pressure for about two months in order to extract forced confessions. Aged approximately 41, he was married and held a law degree from Maragheh University.
Naser Bakrzadeh was also arrested in January 2024 and, after a period of detention in an IRGC Intelligence detention facility in Urmia, was transferred to Urmia Prison. He had previously been sentenced to death multiple times by the Revolutionary Court of Urmia on charges of “spying for Israel,” but those verdicts were overturned twice by the Supreme Court and sent back for retrial. Ultimately, in February 2026 , he was sentenced to death for the third time by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia. According to an informed source, the handling of his case was accompanied by denial of contact and visitation with his family.
In recent weeks, amid an intensified security atmosphere following military tensions, the issuance and implementation of death sentences in political and security-related cases have accelerated significantly. In a recent comprehensive report, HRANA examined the situation of political and security prisoners, particularly those arrested during the January 2026 protests, documenting this trend and providing details of related cases.
