Great Tehran Penitentiary
Tehran prison where Kurdish detainee Arman Marefati faces imminent execution as of June 2026.
Last refreshed: 2 June 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will Arman Marefati be executed before international monitors can intervene?
Timeline for Great Tehran Penitentiary
Two Kurds hanged on the talks day
Iran Conflict 2026- Who is held at the Great Tehran Penitentiary right now?
- As of 1 June 2026, Kurdish prisoner Arman Marefati, 38, from Saqqez, is held there facing imminent execution on moharebeh charges following the January 2026 protests. His two co-defendants were hanged at Ghezel Hesar Prison the same morning.Source: Iran Human Rights / Lowdown
- Where is the Great Tehran Penitentiary?
- The Great Tehran Penitentiary is located in Tehran and is one of Iran's largest detention facilities, holding both criminal and political prisoners under direct central-government oversight.Source: Lowdown
- How many Kurds have been executed in Iran's prisons during the 2026 conflict?
- At least two Kurdish political prisoners, Ashkan Maleki and Mehrdad Mohammadinia, were executed at Ghezel Hesar Prison on 1 June 2026. A third co-defendant, Arman Marefati, was at imminent execution risk at the Great Tehran Penitentiary on the same date.Source: Iran Human Rights
Background
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.