Iran’s top court overturns death sentences for five Kurdish protesters

Authorities have accused her of links to the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), a charge the family denies, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The ruling was issued last week by Judge Ahmad Darvish of Branch One of the Rasht Revolutionary Court following a brief video hearing. Shahbaz Tabari’s trial lasted less than ten minutes, and her family called the proceedings sham and illegal, HRANA wrote.

She had no access to an independent lawyer, her son told HRANA. “The court-appointed attorney did not defend her and simply endorsed the verdict…The entire session was a show.”

He added that his mother had no connection with any political organization and that the accusations were entirely fabricated.

Shahbaz Tabari was arrested on April 17 at her home in Rasht and transferred to Lakan Prison. Security forces searched her residence and confiscated family belongings during the arrest.

The evidence cited in her case included a piece of cloth bearing the slogan ‘Woman, Resistance, Freedom’ and an unpublished voice message. There was no indication of organizational or armed activity, her family said.

Family appeal

“The judge smiled while announcing the death sentence,” her family said, describing the hearing as “a clear violation of human rights.”

They have seven days to appeal and have called on international human rights groups for urgent intervention.

Shahbaz Tabari is an electrical engineer and member of Iran’s Engineering Organization. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Energy from the University of Borås in Sweden and was previously detained for peaceful online activity before being released with an electronic ankle tag, HRANA said.

The sentence comes amid what activists describe as a surge in executions across Iran. The Iran Human Rights Society said 28 inmates were executed on October 22 alone, bringing the total for the month to 280.

Amnesty International warned on October 16 that more than 1,000 people have been executed in Iran so far in 2025, many following unfair trials aimed at silencing dissent.

The rights group urged UN member states to take immediate action, calling the executions “a shocking spree” averaging four per day.

The call came after remarks earlier this week by government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, who said “hijab cannot be restored to society by force” and that social values should be strengthened through cultural engagement rather than coercion.

“The enemy pretending to care about our women only dreams of removing their headscarves and seeing them naked, with no concern for their real needs,” Kayhan wrote.

The hardline paper argued that the establishment of the Islamic Revolution had “dispelled the illusion that unveiling represents progress or that hijab hinders development and talent.”

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  Iran says hijab laws remain in force amid debate over enforcement

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  Iran to mobilize 80,000 volunteers for hijab campaign, official says

The paper portrayed unveiled women as targets of foreign plots and accused senior officials of “passivity and lack of cultural planning.” It said government institutions had failed to act decisively against the promotion of indecency by celebrities and online platforms.

“Purposeful norm-breaking now requires deterrent measures against those leading and promoting it,” the commentary said. “If Iranian women were properly informed, many would consciously choose the Islamic-Iranian lifestyle over Western models.”

It urged cultural bodies to include pro-hijab themes in school curricula, films, and television dramas.

Cultural pressure meets official restraint

Kayhan’s remarks came as Tehran’s Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice headquarters announced plans to deploy 80,000 volunteers to monitor hijab compliance across the capital.

Since the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police, widespread defiance of hijab laws has persisted, turning daily appearances of unveiled women in major cities into a visible act of civil disobedience despite recurring enforcement campaigns.

In a joint statement, the civil, cultural and political activists of diverse affiliations denounced the Islamic Republic for “turning executions into a tool of control and repression with unprecedented intensity."

Twenty-eight inmates were executed nationwide on October 22, bringing the total number of executions that month to 280, the Iran Human Rights Society wrote on Wednesday.

The group called October “the bloodiest month for prisoners since the mass executions of 1988.” The deaths, it said, mostly linked to drug offenses or murder, included several Afghan nationals and were sometimes carried out without notifying families or allowing final visits.

The statement on Friday, signed by several political prisoners, described the wave of executions, particularly in Ghezel Hesar Prison west of Tehran, as evidence of the “moral and legal collapse of the judiciary and its blatant disregard for human dignity.”

The signatories praised the more than year-long Tuesdays Against Executions campaign launched by Ghezel Hesar political prisoners, calling it a spontaneous act of resistance in which inmates “protest every week through hunger strikes against the culture of death.”

Amnesty International on October 16 urged an immediate halt to executions, saying more than 1,000 had been recorded so far in 2025, many following unfair trials aimed at silencing dissent and persecuting minorities.

“UN Member States must confront the Iranian authorities’ shocking execution spree with the urgency it demands. More than 1,000 people have already been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2025 -- an average of four a day,” Amnesty said.

The explosion caused minor damage estimated at 150 million Iranian rials or about $138 to a metal door and the building's stone facade. No injuries were reported, and public services were not disrupted.

Fallah, currently held in Lakan Prison in the town of Rasht in Gilan province where the incident occurred, was sentenced to death in February by an Islamic revolutionary court. Earlier this week, Iran's Supreme Court rejected his lawyer's appeal.

His lawyer, Milad Panahipour, has condemned the ruling as a "clear violation of proportional justice," arguing that the punishment far exceeds the severity of the alleged offense.

"The court relied on an article in the penal code which penalizes damage to vital public infrastructure. The judiciary building was not classified as a vital facility, and the explosion occurred at midnight when no one was present. This was a small sound firecracker, not a weapon of war," Panahipour said.

'War against God' charge

Fallah was arrested at Rasht Airport in July 2023 and initially sentenced to 15 months in prison of insulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

Despite completing that sentence, authorities filed a new case against him with charges of "moharebeh" or war against God, a charge that carries the death penalty.

Reza Akvanian, a human rights activist based in Brussels, criticized the legal basis of the ruling, saying that even under the Islamic Republic's own laws, the charge of moharebeh is unjustified.

"The law clearly defines a mohareb as someone who takes up arms, which Fallah did not do," Akvanian said. "The court's claim that this act qualifies as moharebeh is unprecedented even within Iran's judicial system."

He said that Fallah has denied all charges against him, asserting his innocence.

"These days, they’re once again looking for necks to fit their nooses," US-based activist Masih Alinejad wrote on her Instagram, referring to Fallah's case.

"There’s no proportion between the act and the punishment, but these people see killing a prisoner as a show of power," Alinejad said.

Forced confessions

Throughout the legal proceedings, Fallah was denied access to a lawyer and subjected to coercive interrogation tactics, including threats against family members.

Sources familiar with the cased told Iran International that Fallah had no access to legal counsel during his 18 months in detention. His death sentence was delivered via video conference, raising further concerns about the fairness of the judicial process.

Religious scholars in Qom, the sources added, have been urged to intervene and help overturn the sentence.

While Fallah's case has not yet been highlighted by major international human rights organizations, it reflects broader patterns documented in Iran's judicial system.

According to Iran Human Rights and other advocacy groups, more than 70 political prisoners currently face confirmed or pending death sentences, while over 100 others are at risk of receiving similar verdicts.

The Iran Human Rights Society called October “the bloodiest month for prisoners since the mass executions of 1988.” The deaths, it said, mostly linked to drug offenses or murder, included several Afghan nationals and were sometimes carried out without notifying families or allowing final visits.

Amnesty International on October 16 also urged an immediate halt to executions, saying more than 1,000 had been recorded so far in 2025, many following unfair trials aimed at silencing dissent and persecuting minorities.

Alinejad said the hearing would take place in Manhattan on Wednesday and that she planned to appear in person.

She said she would come “face-to-face with the two Russian hitmen sent by Iran’s regime,” adding that she has survived one kidnapping and two assassination plots on US soil.

“I lost my Brooklyn home, my garden, my peace, but not my voice,” she wrote. “Transnational repression is dictatorship without borders. It must end.”

In March, a US jury found Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov guilty on all charges related to a plot to assassinate Alinejad.

The charges against them included murder for hire, firearms possession and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were members of the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and evidence presented at trial was flawed.

Khalid Mehdiyev, a member of the Thieves in Law gang, said he received orders from the two to kill the journalist who uses her platform to expose the Islamic Republic’s repression.

As a government witness, who has made a deal with prosecutors, Mehdiyev pleaded guilty to attempted murder and gun charges, but Omarav and Amirov stood trial.

Alinejad, who has long criticized Iran’s compulsory hijab laws and its treatment of women, said she will speak at the sentencing not just for herself, but "for every woman who refuses to be afraid.”