Iran Intensifies Crackdown: Five Young Men Face Execution After Torture and Unfair Trials

Iran’s regime continues its brutal campaign of repression, targeting young voices of dissent with death sentences following grossly unjust trials and systematic torture.

According to the Norway-based rights organization Hengaw, two young men – Mohammad Darvish Narouei (22) and Yasin Kebdani (21) – have been sentenced to death by a court in Zahedan, southeastern Iran. Their alleged crime: participating in the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. The court convicted them of “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” charges commonly used by the regime to silence protesters. Their executions could be carried out at any moment.

A third young detainee, Benyamin Kouhkan, who was just 16 years old at the time of his arrest, has also stood trial and has since been placed in solitary confinement. His verdict is still pending. All three were reportedly subjected to torture and denied legal representation.

In a separate case, Iran Human Rights (IHR) reports that two other Baloch political prisoners – Farhad Baranzahi (24) and Omran Aghal (22) – have also been sentenced to death in Zahedan. The regime accuses them of belonging to armed opposition groups. Like the others, both were allegedly tortured into forced confessions and remain imprisoned in Zahedan Central Prison.

These death sentences are part of a broader policy of ethnic and political suppression, especially targeting the Baloch and Ahwazi peoples under Iranian occupation.