ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Saturday secretly executed another detainee from the January protests without prior notice to his family, a human rights organization said, warning of an escalating crackdown on protesters arrested during the nationwide unrest earlier this year.
Arvin Kheirkhahan, 20, was executed at dawn on Saturday after being convicted of Moharebeh (waging war against God) by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Shahrud, Semnan province, according to the Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, which reported that the sentence was carried out "secretly and without prior notice to his family."
The rights group said prison authorities refused to hand over his body immediately and instructed his family to collect it on Sunday morning, adding that “the burial must take place at 5:00 a.m. under tight security measures.”
The reported execution is the latest in a series of death sentences carried out against detainees arrested during Iran's anti-government January protests, underscoring growing concerns among human rights organizations over Tehran's use of capital punishment against political prisoners. Rights groups say executions, lengthy prison sentences, and secret trials have become key tools in the authorities' crackdown following the nationwide demonstrations.
According to Hengaw, Kheirkhahan was arrested during the January protests and later sentenced to death on the charge of Moharebeh. The verdict was upheld on appeal and by Iran's Supreme Court.
Hengaw added that judicial and prison authorities had not released detailed information about the timing of Kheirkhahan's arrest, the evidence supporting the Moharebeh charge, the circumstances of his interrogations, or whether he had meaningful access to a lawyer of his choosing, citing what it described as the authorities' "haste and lack of judicial transparency."
As of Saturday, Iranian state media and judiciary-affiliated outlets had not announced the execution, according to Hengaw.
The execution follows a series of similar cases reported in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, Iranian authorities executed two young men in Isfahan who had also been detained during the January protests, while rights groups have reported an increase in prison sentences and executions targeting protesters, activists, and political prisoners.
According to Hengaw, at least 109 people were executed in Iran in June alone, including five political prisoners. The organization said only seven of those executions were officially announced, while 12 were carried out in secret. Hengaw previously reported that at least 375 people were executed in the first six months of this year, amid what rights groups describe as an intensified campaign against dissent following the January protests and the subsequent conflict involving the US and Israel.
