January 2026 Protests: Alireza Sepahi Executed

HRANA – The death sentence of Alireza Sepahi, arrested during the January 2026 protests and one of the defendants in the case known as the “Isfahan Alikhani Square” case, was carried out at dawn today in Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan.

According to HRANA, Alireza Sepahi has been executed.

Shahrzad Shahbazi, an attorney, announced in a post that at dawn today, Monday, October 5, the death sentence of Alireza Sepahi, one of those arrested during the January 2026 protests and a defendant in the case known as the “Isfahan Alikhani Square” case, was carried out at Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan.

Yesterday, HRANA reported that Mr. Sepahi had been transferred to solitary confinement and that his family had been summoned for a final visit with him.

It is also worth noting that yesterday, attorney Amirsalar Davoudi announced the marriage of the two prisoners by posting an audio recording of the marriage ceremony of Alireza Sepahi and Mahshad Kashani on his page.

HRANA had previously reported that after the Supreme Court approved a retrial in Alireza Sepahi’s case, his case was referred for reconsideration to a parallel branch of Branch 2 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court. However, that branch rejected the retrial request without holding a hearing and sent the case to the Enforcement of Judgments Branch for implementation of the death sentence.

Alireza Sepahi, aged approximately 25, was arrested on January 10, 2026, in connection with the nationwide protests. He was subsequently transferred to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan.

HRANA had previously reported that the proceedings in the cases of Alireza and Abolfazl Sepahi were marked by restrictions including the attorney’s lack of effective access to the case file, the inability to obtain a copy of the court ruling, hearings conducted via videoconference, and the court’s failure to give due consideration to evidence presented by the defense.

According to a source close to the family, surveillance-camera footage and other evidence show that Alireza Sepahi was not present at Alikhani Square when the incident cited in the case occurred and was instead at another location. Nevertheless, Morteza Barati, the judge presiding over the case, sentenced him to death on four counts without effectively examining this evidence.

Several other defendants in the case have also stated that during interrogations they were subjected to pressure and torture to make them confirm that Alireza Sepahi had been present at the scene of the incident. Despite these allegations, no independent and effective investigation has yet been conducted into whether statements were obtained under duress.

Erfan Esfandiari and Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, two other defendants in the case, were executed on July 19. The death sentences of Abolfazl Sepahi and Amirhossein Safari were also carried out publicly at Alikhani Square in Isfahan at dawn on July 28. Alireza Sepahi was scheduled to be executed alongside them, but before being transferred to the execution site, he suffered a stroke. After being taken to a hospital and receiving medical treatment, he was returned to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan. On Thursday, August 20, the death sentence of Ghaem (Arian) Hosseini, another defendant in the case, was also carried out.

At the trial-court stage, 15 defendants in this case were sentenced to death. According to information provided by an attorney, the sentence of one defendant was overturned by a higher judicial authority, while the death sentences of the other 14 defendants were upheld.

Twelve of the defendants in this case have been identified as: Alireza Sepahi, Abolfazl Sepahi, Erfan Esfandiari, Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, Amirhossein Safari, Ghaem Hosseini, Shervin Bagherian, Amirhossein Maleki, Ali Dashti, Abolfazl Ebrahimi, Alireza Raeisi, and Amirhossein Ebrahimi Analoucheh.