Overview
- Iran’s judiciary announced on Tuesday, July 28 that Abolfazl Sepahi and Amir‑Hossein Safari were hanged in Isfahan’s Shahid Alikhani (Alikhani) Square after convictions for charges including moharebeh, a religiously framed crime that means “waging war against God.”
- Witnesses and activist footage show crowds gathering at the site and attempting to stop the executions before security forces dispersed them, and rights groups reported arrests and injuries during those attempts.
- United Nations experts and multiple rights organisations said the trials of the Alikhani defendants violated fair‑trial standards, noting closed hearings, broadcasted confessions, denial of independent counsel, and credible allegations of torture or coercion to obtain statements.
- Human rights monitors say these hangings are part of a sharp rise in executions since early 2026, with hundreds documented so far this year, and the U.S. State Department joined UN bodies in publicly condemning the use of the death penalty against protesters.
- The two men were among 12 defendants in the Alikhani Square case; two others were executed on July 19 and several more remain under sentence of death, raising concern that further executions could be used to intimidate communities and fuel wider domestic anger.