An Iranian court has sentenced three Afghan nationals to death for allegedly taking part in anti-government protests and setting fire to a police station, the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said, days after another Afghan citizen was executed in a separate protest-related case.
Hengaw said the Revolutionary Court in Isfahan sentenced Afshar Shah Ahmadi, Iman Shafaei and Sadruddin Ahmadzadeh, all Afghan residents of the city, on charges of participating in the burning of a police station during anti-government protests in January.
According to the organization, the three men were arrested during the protests and spent 40 days in detention at an Iranian Intelligence Ministry facility without access to their families or legal counsel.
Hengaw also said that Iman Shafaei, who had a pre-existing respiratory illness before his arrest, developed severe asthma while in custody and has been denied medical treatment.
The report was published four days after the execution of Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, a 23-year-old Afghan national whom Iranian human rights groups said was secretly executed at Isfahan Central Prison after being convicted of participating in the same wave of protests.
The execution brought the number of Afghan nationals executed in Iran over the past five months to at least 11, according to Iranian rights organizations. With the three new death sentences, the number of Afghans executed or currently facing execution during the same period has risen to 14.
Human rights groups have raised concerns about the treatment of Afghan detainees in Iran, citing restrictions on access to legal representation, fair trials and consular assistance.
Most executions of Afghan nationals in recent months have been carried out in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, Taybad, Yazd and Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan, according to rights organizations. While many of those executed were convicted on drug-related charges, others have been sentenced to death or executed on charges including murder, alleged espionage for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and participation in anti-government protests.
Hengaw previously reported that at least 85 Afghan nationals have been executed in Iran in 2025, underscoring what rights groups describe as a sharp rise in the use of the death penalty against Afghan citizens.
