Karim Khojasteh, a political prisoner, was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in Rasht on the charge of “baghi” (armed rebellion). Akbar Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani-Amerian, and Abolhassan Montazer—six other political prisoners—were also sentenced to death again by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, despite their previous death sentences having been overturned.
Khojasteh was sentenced to death on the charge of “baghi” for alleged membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (the country’s largest opposition group), by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht.
According to Article 287 of the Islamic Penal Code, a “baghi” is defined as someone who takes up arms against the “foundations of the Islamic Republic.”
Khoshesteh was arrested on March 13, 2025, at his industrial workshop in Khomam, Gilan Province, and transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht.
He had previously been arrested in July of the same year on the charge of “propaganda against the regime” and was temporarily released on November 29, 2024, after about four and a half months in detention, on bail of 500 million tomans (approximately 5 billion rials).
Daneshvarkar, Taghavi, Alipour, Ghobadi, Bani-Amerian, and Montazer—six political prisoners held in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj—were again sentenced to death. They were tried on the same charge.
These six individuals, who have been imprisoned since autumn and winter 2023, were tried in November 2025 in Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari. On December 7, their new death sentences were formally communicated to their lawyers.
These prisoners had previously been sentenced to death on November 30, 2024, by Afshari on the charge of “baghi through membership in opposition groups.” That ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court in July, and the case was sent to a parallel branch for retrial.
98th Week of the “No To Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in 55 Prisons Across Iran
Taghavi is a political prisoner from the 1980s, and Bani-Amerian, Ghobadi, and Alipour have also previously been imprisoned due to their political activities.
Mai Sato, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, called on the regime on November 5—via a post on the social platform X—to halt the execution of these six political prisoners.
She wrote that these individuals are facing execution after a judicial process involving “torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and denial of fair trial rights.”
The regime’s delegation in Geneva issued an official statement in response to Sato, describing the defendants as members of teams linked to the “People’s Mojahedin Organization” and claiming that their judicial process was conducted according to “legal standards,” with defense lawyers present and with “all guarantees of a fair trial.”
Human rights organizations and activists have repeatedly warned in recent years about “show trials” and the violation of fundamental rights of political and ideological detainees in Iran, including the denial of access to a lawyer of their choice.
At present, in addition to prisoners convicted of non-political crimes who are executed daily in Iran’s prisons, around 70 political prisoners nationwide are at risk of having their death sentences confirmed or carried out. A very large number of them have been convicted on accusations of collaboration with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. More than 100 other individuals face the risk of receiving death sentences on similar charges.
