Iranian authorities have executed three young men connected to the January nationwide anti-government protests in the space of just two days, deepening concerns that the Islamic Republic is accelerating the use of the death penalty against protesters and political detainees.
Mohammad Amin Biglari, 19, and Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, 30, were executed on April 5. Ali Fahim, 23, was executed today, April 6.
All three were defendants in the same case involving an alleged attack on a Basij military facility in Tehran during the January 8 protests.
Iran’s judiciary claims the defendants attempted to enter a restricted military site, set parts of the facility on fire and gain access to weapons. They were convicted on charges including moharebeh — “waging war against God” — and efsad-fil-arz, or “corruption on earth.”
But human-rights organizations say the proceedings were marred by serious violations of due process, including allegations of torture, coerced confessions and denial of meaningful access to independent lawyers.
Mohammad Amin Biglari
Mohammad Amin Biglari was only 19 years old.
He was arrested during the January 8 protests in Tehran and, according to Iran Human Rights, was executed just 87 days after his arrest.
His family attempted to appoint a lawyer of their own choosing.
Attorney Hassan Aghakhani later said that when he attended the court, he was not permitted to review the case file or present a defense on Biglari’s behalf.
Biglari was instead represented by a court-appointed lawyer.
Iran Human Rights also reported concerns that the confession attributed to the teenager was obtained under coercive circumstances and that he did not receive the safeguards required in a capital case.
He was executed on April 5.
Shahin Vahedparast Kolor
Shahin Vahedparast Kolor was arrested in connection with the same January protest case.
Iranian authorities accused him of participating in the attack on the military facility and attempting to access its armory.
He was tried by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati.
According to rights monitors, the defendants were tried on February 7 and sentenced to death the following day.
Vahedparast and Biglari were both executed on April 5, reportedly in Ghezel Hesar Prison.
Their executions came only days after another defendant in the case, Amirhossein Hatami, was put to death on April 2.
Ali Fahim Executed Today
This morning, April 6, Iranian authorities executed Ali Fahim, another defendant in the same case.
State media described Fahim as having participated in an attempt to enter the military facility and seize weapons.
Iran’s Supreme Court had upheld his death sentence.
Human-rights organizations, however, have repeatedly warned that defendants prosecuted over the January protests have faced torture and grossly unfair judicial proceedings.
With Fahim’s execution today, four defendants from this single protest-related case have now been put to death within days.
Others remain at risk.
Trials Under the Shadow of Torture Allegations
The speed with which these executions have been carried out should alarm anyone concerned with basic standards of justice.
These were capital cases.
Yet rights organizations say defendants were denied effective access to lawyers of their own choosing and that confessions used against protesters may have been extracted under torture or coercion.
Iran Human Rights says state television broadcast purported confessions from defendants shortly after their arrests.
Such televised confessions have long been criticized by international rights groups, particularly when detainees have not had access to independent legal representation.
A death sentence based on proceedings contaminated by torture allegations and denial of due process cannot be treated as credible justice.
Once an execution has taken place, there is no possibility of correcting a wrongful conviction.
Executions as a Tool of Repression
These executions are taking place after one of the most severe crackdowns on protest in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Thousands of Iranians have been arrested since the nationwide demonstrations.
Human Rights Watch warned on April 1 that detainees and political prisoners faced not only the dangers created by the regional war but also the threat of mass, secret and arbitrary executions by Iranian authorities. Human Rights Watch
Iran Human Rights condemned the executions of Biglari and Vahedparast, saying their case had been marked by violations of fair-trial rights and allegations of torture. The organization warned that other defendants were at imminent risk of execution. Iran Human Rights
Reuters reported today that Ali Fahim had been executed after the Supreme Court upheld his sentence, while Amnesty International had warned that detainees connected to the January unrest had been subjected to torture and “grossly unfair trials.” Reuters
These Executions Must Be Condemned
The Islamic Republic’s execution of young protesters following deeply disputed judicial proceedings deserves unequivocal condemnation.
No government has the right to torture detainees, deny them meaningful legal representation and then use the death penalty to silence dissent or frighten a population into submission.
The allegations against these defendants were serious.
Precisely because the punishment was irreversible, the authorities had an even greater obligation to provide transparent evidence, independent lawyers, open proceedings and protection against torture.
Instead, rights organizations describe a process in which these basic guarantees were absent.
Mohammad Amin Biglari was 19.
Shahin Vahedparast was around 30.
Ali Fahim was 23.
They are now dead.
Iran’s People Have the Right to Decide Their Future
The Iranian people have the right to protest peacefully, criticize their government and demand fundamental political change without facing torture, imprisonment or execution.
They also have the right to determine their country’s political future through free political participation and without coercion from the state.
A government cannot manufacture legitimacy through executions.
Nor can gallows erase the grievances that brought people into the streets.
The immediate priority must be stopping further executions, protecting detainees from torture, granting prisoners access to independent lawyers and establishing accountability for abuses committed during the crackdown.
The international community should urgently press Iranian authorities to halt all protest-related executions and allow independent scrutiny of the cases of those still facing death sentences.
The executions of Mohammad Amin Biglari, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor and Ali Fahim must not pass without scrutiny.
Their cases should instead draw greater attention to the fate of the protesters who remain behind bars — and to the fundamental right of Iranians to seek a different political future without being killed for doing so.
Sources
- Iran Human Rights — Mohammad Amin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast, April 5, 2026
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/8667/ - Reuters — Ali Fahim executed, April 6, 2026
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-executes-man-over-attack-military-site-during-january-protests-mizan-2026-04-06/ - Human Rights Watch — Iran: Thousands of Prisoners at Risk, April 1, 2026
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/04/01/iran-thousands-of-prisoners-at-risk - NCRI — Mohammad Amin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast, April 5, 2026
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/statement-human-rights/iran-brutal-execution-and-hanging-of-brave-rebellious-youths-shahin-vahedparast-and-mohammad-amin-biglari/ - NCRI — Ali Fahim, April 6, 2026
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/statement-human-rights/iran-brutal-execution-and-hanging-of-the-brave-rebellious-youth-ali-fahim/
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