Iran executes another political prisoner detained during 2022 nationwide protests

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Sunday executed another political prisoner detained during the 2022 anti-government protests, as the international community calls on Tehran to halt executions.

Mehrab Abdollahzadeh was executed after being accused of involvement in the killing of a member of the Basij paralimilitary force in the northwestern city of Urmia, Iran’s judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan Online reported.

The Basij is a large volunteer paramilitary group in Iran that serves as one of the five branches of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Abdollahzadeh was detained on October 22, 2022, by IRGC intelligence service agents and was subjected to 38 days of torture to force him to confess to involvement in the killing of a Basiji member, according to the Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).

Iran has executed around two dozen political prisoners since the beginning of the war with the US and Israel on February 28. Officials in Tehran have said they will carry out more executions of individuals they describe as affiliated with the enemy.

Abdollahzadeh denied involvement throughout his interrogation, according to KHRN, and he does not appear in footage obtained by the IRGC.

The IRGC and its Basij are among the main tools of repression during unrest in Iran, including during the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Kurdish woman Zhina Amini in morality police custody in Tehran in September. The IRGC and Basij killed hundreds of protesters, and tens of thousands were arrested.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that Iran carried out 2,063 executions in 2025 - the highest figure recorded in roughly three and a half decades.

Abdollahzadeh was taken to solitary confinement on Thursday alongside two other political prisoners. Naser Bakrzadeh, a Kurdish prisoner, and Yaghoub Karimpour, an Azeri prisoner, were executed on Saturday.

“The international community must not stand idly by while the Iranian authorities continue to escalate the arbitrary execution of political dissidents and protesters to instill fear,” Amnesty International said Friday in a statement.

“As scores of protesters and dissidents remain at grave risk of executions and people wake up to terrorizing news of hangings almost daily since 30 March 2026, we urge all states to speak out forcefully and undertake coordinated urgent diplomatic action,” the statement added.