Naqadeh Central Prison is a provincial facility in Naqadeh city, the capital of Naqadeh County in West Azerbaijan Province, north-western Iran, at coordinates 36.96 N, 45.39 E.Source: Hengaw / geographic databases

Who were the Kurdish prisoners executed at Naqadeh on 21 May 2026?

Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour, both Kurdish political prisoners convicted of armed uprising and national security charges, were secretly executed at Naqadeh Central Prison on 21 May 2026 according to Hengaw.Source: Hengaw

Why does Iran carry out secret executions without notifying families?

Iranian authorities routinely execute prisoners without prior notice to families or lawyers, a practice Hengaw and Amnesty International say is designed to prevent legal challenges and suppress documentation of politically motivated judicial killings.Source: Hengaw / Amnesty International

Background

Naqadeh Central Prison entered Iran's wartime judicial record on 21 May 2026, when Hengaw documented the secret execution of Kurdish political prisoners Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour there. The Iranian judiciary charged both men with armed uprising, attempted assassination, and forming a group to disrupt national security, describing them as members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran. Hengaw reported that the convictions rested on confessions extracted under torture.

Naqadeh is a city of approximately 73,500 people in Naqadeh County, West Azerbaijan Province, situated at 36.96 N, 45.39 E at an elevation of 1,337 metres. The city is in a historically Kurdish area of north-western Iran bordering Iraqi Kurdistan. Naqadeh Central Prison is a provincial facility that has previously held political detainees from the region. Iran executed more than 200 people in the first five months of 2026, a rate Amnesty International and Hengaw linked partly to the government's securitisation response since the December 2025 protests.

The Naqadeh dual execution was one of four carried out in secret on 21 May, the same day Iran also executed two Iraqi nationals on espionage charges; the first foreign nationals executed in the 2026 conflict period. Turkish national Gholamreza Khani Shakarab faced imminent execution on the same charge at a separate facility while Ankara was actively mediating Ceasefire talks.

More questions

How many people has Iran executed in 2026?

More than 200 people had been executed in Iran in the first five months of 2026, a pace human rights organisations link to the government's securitised response since the December 2025 protests.Source: Amnesty International / Hengaw

How the World Sees Them

Turkey

Ankara is conducting active ceasefire mediation with Tehran while a Turkish national faces imminent execution nearby; the Naqadeh dual execution increases pressure on the talks.

International

Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran have called the 2026 execution rate unprecedented and politically driven, with provincial prisons like Naqadeh used to execute prisoners away from media attention.

Iran (judiciary)

The Iranian judiciary characterises Naqadeh executions as lawful counter-terrorism, citing armed uprising charges. State media does not acknowledge the Kurdish political identity of those executed.

Kurdish rights groups

Hengaw and the Washington Kurdish Institute document Naqadeh as part of Iran's systematic use of the death penalty to suppress Kurdish political activism, with confessions obtained under torture.