Reza Zangeneh, a prisoner sentenced to death in Karaj's Ghezelhesar prison, has been moved to a solitary cell in the prison. The HRANA news agency reported the news on Monday, 12 October 2026, writing that the reason for his transfer is still unclear. In recent months, the transfer of death-row prisoners to solitary confinement in Ghezelhesar has repeatedly been the prelude to an execution.
According to HRANA, Branch 2 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court, headed by Judge Sabzevari, sentenced Reza Zangeneh to death on charges of "moharebeh" and "collaborating with Mossad". The Islamic Republic's judiciary has presented his case as "spying for Israel".
Reza Zangeneh's case and the charge of collaborating with Mossad
According to the human rights organisation Hengaw, Reza Zangeneh is 27 years old, from Malayer and lives in Malard, in Alborz province. Security forces arrested him on 3 April 2026 in a raid on his workplace, and he has been held in Ghezelhesar prison ever since. In August, Hengaw reported that his case had been sent to the Supreme Court for appeal.
According to people close to him quoted by Hengaw, the charge of collaborating with Mossad was constructed solely on the basis of his job repairing foreign cars and his earlier work trips abroad. The organisation also reported that security bodies have put his family under intense pressure to stay silent and not take the case to the media.
A wave of executions on charges of spying for Israel
Since the start of the war with America and Israel, the Islamic Republic has arrested and tried a large number of citizens on charges of "spying for Israel"; according to human rights organisations, these cases often rely on forced confessions and closed-door hearings in the Revolutionary Court.
According to HRANA, in the past year the Islamic Republic has executed at least 2,003 people, the highest figure in a decade. This very week, Omar Dorostaran, a Baluch prisoner, was executed without any document from his trial being published.
Reza Zangeneh, a 27-year-old car mechanic, has been taken to solitary confinement in Ghezelhesar after being sentenced to death on a charge of collaborating with Mossad.
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