https://news.az/news/rights-groups-report-executions-arrests-prison-sentences-across-iran Copied Photo: HRANA + ↺ − 16px
Iranian authorities have carried out two executions, handed down prison sentences to several activists and teachers, and detained a number of civil society figures in recent days, according to Iranian human rights organisations.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that Rasoul Rasouli was executed at dawn on Wednesday in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz after being convicted on drug-related charges. According to HRANA, Iranian authorities have not officially announced the execution, News.Az reports.
Separately, the Hana Human Rights Organization said Shoresh Satarzadeh, a resident of Chapan Alya village in Saqqez County, was executed on Wednesday in Sanandaj Central Prison. Hana said Satarzadeh had been arrested 18 years ago on a charge of premeditated murder and was later sentenced to death. The organisation said no further information had been released about his judicial proceedings or his final meeting with family members.
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The Hana Human Rights Organization said Arya Nourani, a Kurdish public school teacher from Maneh County in North Khorasan Province, had been sentenced to 14 months of discretionary (ta'zir) imprisonment. According to the organisation, the court notification did not specify the charges, evidence or legal basis for the conviction. Nourani was arrested during nationwide protests in January 2026 and released on bail after approximately two weeks in detention.
HRANA, citing Kurdpa, reported that the Revolutionary Court of Bukan sentenced Masoud Chamani, 35, to a total of two years and seven months' imprisonment on charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "membership in groups or associations with the aim of disrupting national security". Chamani, a resident of Ebrahimabad village in West Azerbaijan Province, was arrested without a warrant in February and later released on bail.
The Appeals Court of Khorasan-Razavi Province has also reduced the prison sentence of teacher Azadeh Saleki from 10 years to five years, according to HRANA, citing the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations. Saleki was arrested during the January 2026 protests and released on bail after about one month in custody. The report did not specify the charges on which she was convicted.
According to Hana, security forces arrested Saeed Asareh, a Kurdish resident of Malekshahi County in Ilam Province, on Tuesday without presenting a judicial warrant. The organisation said his whereabouts, the authority responsible for the arrest and any charges against him remain unknown.
HRANA, citing Emtedad, reported that environmental activists Hooman Jokar, his wife Sepideh Kashani, and her sister, Sima Kashani, were arrested in Tehran. Security officers reportedly confiscated their electronic devices during the arrests. No official information has been released regarding the reasons for the detentions, the arresting authority or where the three are being held.
HRANA also reported that Jan-Mohammad Ahmadi, a retired teacher and head of the Teachers' Trade Association of Nurabad Mamasani, was arrested by security forces at the entrance to Nurabad Mamasani. No information has been made public regarding the reasons for his arrest or any charges against him. Ahmadi had previously been convicted of "propaganda against the regime" in connection with his trade union activities and received a suspended prison sentence that was commuted to a fine.
Separately, Azerbaijani-Turk activists Abbas Lesani and Yousef Kari remain in detention at Tehran's Evin Prison, where they have been on hunger strike since 28 June, according to HRANA. The two are protesting prison authorities' decision to transfer them to separate wards without observing regulations requiring prisoners to be separated according to the nature of their alleged offences.
HRANA said Lesani has been charged with "forming an illegal group", "assembly and collusion against national security", and "disrupting public order", while Kari faces charges of "membership in an illegal group", "assembly and collusion against national security", and "disrupting public order". Both men were arrested outside Evin Prison in November 2025 while expressing support for the families of political prisoners and have remained in custody for more than seven months.