Shahab Zohdi and four other January uprising detainees sentenced to death

The Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Courts in Tehran have issued death sentences for five people detained during the January (Dey) uprising of 2026: Shahab Zohdi, Amirreza Rezaei, Vahid Ghahremani, Omran Amani, and a cleric named Mehdi whose surname has not been released. The sentences were served on the prisoners or made public between 24 and 30 October 2026.

At the same time, the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Mohammad Naderi, a political prisoner arrested during the days of the war. DIAR had earlier reported on the imminent risk of Mohammad Naderi's execution.

Shahab Zohdi: a second death sentence from Judge Salavati

Shahab Zohdi, born on 18 February 1988 and a motorcycle courier before his arrest, has been sentenced to death for the second time. The sentence was issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Abolghasem Salavati. In Mordad (July–August), Branch 9 of the Supreme Court had overturned his first sentence and sent the case back to the lower court.

He was arrested in the case over the fire at the “185 Mahmoud Kaveh” Basij base in eastern Tehran and is now held in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj. Four of his co-defendants were executed in Farvardin (March–April 2026). Shahab Zohdi is the father of a child whose mother died five months after the birth, and for 15 years he has raised the child alone.

Three sentences from Branch 23 and one for “moharebeh”

Branch 23 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Amirreza Rezaei, Vahid Ghahremani and Mehdi to death on charges including “operational action in favour of Israel”. The verdict was served on them in prison on 26 October. On 28 October the three prisoners were moved from Greater Tehran Prison to Ghezel Hesar. Mehdi, a cleric and former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has also been sentenced to death by the Special Clerical Court on a charge of “apostasy”, so he now faces two death sentences.

Omran Amani, a 21-year-old from Kurdistan province who had moved to Tehran for work, was sentenced to death for “moharebeh” (“waging war against God”) by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, headed by Iman Afshari. The sentence was served on him in Greater Tehran Prison on 24 October. No details of the charge against him or of his trial have been released so far.

Death sentences after the war

Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, told the General Assembly in a report on Wednesday 28 October that the Islamic Republic has used the war to step up repression and has executed at least 34 protesters.

Five detainees from the January uprising were sentenced to death in a single week, and the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of another political prisoner.