2 Executed, 10 at Imminent Risk of Execution; Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi
July 19, 2026 – Today, Sunday, Mizan News Agency, the official media outlet of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Judiciary, announced the execution of two protesters from the December 2025 demonstrations in Isfahan, identified as Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi. The two were executed on charges of "arson of public property" and for their alleged role in the "killing of four Basij forces" in the case known as the "Ali-Khani Square of Isfahan".
Without providing details on the judicial process, the number or quality of court sessions, the defendants' access to legal counsel (whether chosen or court-appointed), the defense lawyers' access to the case files, how the defendants pleaded, or their right to appeal, Mizan wrote vaguely that based on "confessions of the defendants and review of local CCTV footage," "two of the highly violent and ruthless perpetrators of the crimes at Martyr Ali-Khani Square in Isfahan during the January coup" were executed this morning. The judiciary attributed the incident to "violent and armed riots in the American-Zionist coup on January 8, 2026, with the aim of overthrowing the regime," rushing through the cases of 59 individuals and issuing mass death sentences in just about six months.
Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, aged 19 and 24, were among 12 defendants in the "Ali-Khani Square of Isfahan" case who were sentenced to death. The death sentences for all 12 individuals were upheld by the Supreme Court and forwarded to the Sentence Enforcement Unit on July 5, 2026, for execution. Some of the defendants in this case have been sentenced to death two or three times.
The case stems from the killing of four Basij forces during the December 2025 protests. In connection with this case, the Islamic Republic arbitrarily detained 59 individuals, 12 of whom received death sentences. Furthermore, 23 individuals were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 5 to 10 years, despite being acquitted of the primary charges.
The case was processed in Branch 1 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mohammad Barati Dorcheh, alongside Mohammad Tavakoli (publicly known as Mohammad Vakili)—one of the notorious judges from the "Khaneh Isfahan" case. The entire judicial proceeding for this case took place across just three one-hour sessions, conducted in total violation of the principles of a fair trial.
The Committee for Monitoring the Status of Detainees has released the names of the 12 individuals sentenced to death in this case as follows:
- Alireza Sepahi (Born 2001) – Sentenced to death four times
- Abolfazl Sepahi (Born 2003) – Sentenced to death three times
- Alireza Raeisi (Born 2004) – Sentenced to death twice
- Ghaem Hosseini (Born 2005) – Sentenced to death twice
- Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi (Born 2002), an Afghan citizen who reportedly gave shelter to protesters – Sentenced to death twice (Executed)
- Amirhossein Safari (Born 1998) – Sentenced to death
- Amirhossein Maleki (Born 2006) – Sentenced to death
- Ali Dashti (Born 2006) – Sentenced to death
- Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analojeh (Born 2006) – Sentenced to death
- Shervin Bagherian (Born 2007) – Sentenced to death
- Erfan Esfandiari (Born 2007) – Sentenced to death (Executed)
- Abolfazl Ebrahimi (Born 2007) – Sentenced to death
Following the execution of Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, the remaining 10 individuals sentenced in this case remain at imminent risk of execution.
With the execution of Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, at least 23 protesters have been executed in connection with the December 2025 protests within a four-month period between March 18, 2026, and July 19, 2026. The names of these individuals are, in order: Saleh Mohammadi, Saeid Davoudi, Mehdi Ghasemi, Amirhossein Hatami, Mohammad-Amin Bigleri, Shahin Vahedparast Kalour, Ali Fahim, Amir-Ali Mirjaafari, Erfan Kiani, Sasan Azadvar, Ebrahim Dowlatabadi-Nejad, Mehdi Rasouli, Mohammad-Reza Miri, Mohammad Abbasi, Abbas Akbari Feizabadi, Ashkan Maleki, Mehrdad Mohammadinia, Fathollah Avari, Javad Zamani, Abolfazl Saedi, Mohammad Amini Dehaqani, Erfan Esfandiari, and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi.
