Prisoners reportedly transferred to Ghezel Hesar execution site amid fears of imminent death sentences being carried out
On the morning of Friday, August 8, 2025, Iranian regime authorities transferred several political prisoners back to Evin Prison from Fashafuyeh Prison, where they had been held since late June.
However, five death row political prisoners—Vahid Bani-Amerian, Pouya Ghobadi, Shahrokh Daneshvarkar, Mohammad Taghavi, and Babak Alipour—were violently separated from other detainees and taken to an undisclosed location. Reports indicate they have been moved to Ghezel Hesar Prison, a notorious execution site.
These men were sentenced to death in December 2024 by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Iman Afshari, on charges including “membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK),” “assembly and collusion against national security,” and “armed rebellion against the state.”
Profiles of the Prisoners Facing Execution
- Babak Alipour, 34, law graduate – Arrested January 2024; previously detained in November 2018 in Rasht and served four years in prison.
- Pouya Ghobadi, 33, electrical engineer – Arrested March 2024; previously arrested twice.
- Shahrokh Daneshvarkar, 58, civil engineer – Arrested January 2024.
- Mohammad Taghavi, 59, former political prisoner from the 1980s and 1990s – Arrested in 2020, served three years for alleged association with the PMOI/MEK.
- Vahid Bani Amerian, 33, master’s degree in management – Arrested January 2024; multiple imprisonments since 2017 totaling four years.
Call for Immediate International Action
The Iranian Resistance has urgently appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and international human rights organizations to:
- Immediately inquire about the status and whereabouts of these five prisoners.
- Intervene to stop their potential imminent execution.
- Demand transparency regarding the transfer and fate of all political prisoners moved in recent days.
The situation remains critical, with fears that the regime may carry out the executions in the coming hours or days. Ghezel Hesar Prison has long been associated with secretive and expedited executions, often without notifying families or legal representatives.
