Great Tehran Penitentiary

The Great Tehran Penitentiary holds Arman Marefati, a 38-year-old Kurdish man from Saqqez, who was transferred there in the days before 1 June 2026 and faces imminent hanging on a moharebeh (waging war against God) conviction arising from the January 2026 protests. His two co-defendants, Ashkan Maleki and Mehrdad Mohammadinia, were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj at dawn the same day, with families denied a final visit and bodies initially withheld.

The Great Tehran Penitentiary, also known as Tehran Big Prison, is one of Iran's largest detention facilities. It holds both criminal and political prisoners, and has been the site of previous execution waves during the Islamic Republic's history. Its location within Tehran — under direct central-government oversight — makes it distinct from provincial facilities such as Evin Prison (intelligence-linked) or Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj (where the January-2026 cohort were previously held).

Marefati's transfer to the Great Tehran Penitentiary and the timing of his co-defendants' executions — carried out on the same morning Iran suspended nuclear talks — drew condemnation from Iran Human Rights and international monitors as deliberate obscuration under the cover of the war.