Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 5, 2025: Eskandar Bazmandegan and Mohammad Kashefi, two Sunni men on death row for security-related charges, were secretly executed in Shiraz Central Prison.
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Shiraz (Adel Abad) Central Prison on 24 August 2025. Their identities have been established as 37-year-old Eskandar Bazmandegan and 40-year-old Mohammad Kashefi who were sentenced to death on security-related charges.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Eskandar and Mohammad were arrested two years ago and held in the Ministry of Intelligence’s custody for six months before being transferred to Ward 4 of Adel Abad Prison.”
“They were executed without their families being notified, a last visit or their place of burial,” the source added.
At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.
Due to the vague definition, the charges of efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) are used for a wide range of offences. Article 286 of the Islamic Penal Code lists “establishing and running centres of corruption and prostitution” as one of the charges leading to the death penalty for efsad-fil-arz. Additionally, as it is within the Revolutionary Courts’ jurisdiction, there is considerable subjectivity in the judgements made in the cases.
The security-related charges of moharebeh (enmity against god), efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and baghy (armed rebellion) have been used to execute countless political and ordinary crime prisoners in the last 46 years. From the bloody decade of the 1980s to present day, Revolutionary Courts around the country have handed down death sentences based on torture-tainted confessions after trials that have been described as kangaroo courts. From protesters to dissidents, armed robbers to spies, human traffickers to terrorists, security-related charges have been used for a wide range of so-called offences to intimidate and create societal fear for decades. In 2024, at least 31 people were executed for security-related charges compared to 39 in 2023, 16 in 2022, 13 in 2021, 15 in 2020 and 9 in 2019.