Ramin Zaleh

Ramin Zaleh was a Kurdish political prisoner secretly executed at Naqadeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province on 21 May 2026, documented by the Norway-based Kurdish rights monitor Hengaw . He was executed alongside Karim Maroufpour on the same day at the same facility; two executions at a single prison on one day represented the sharpest single-day escalation in the wartime political-prisoner register since the 13 May five-prison cluster documented by Hengaw at update 97.

Naqadeh is a city in West Azerbaijan Province, a predominantly Kurdish region of northwestern Iran. Political prisoners at Naqadeh Central Prison have been documented by Hengaw throughout the 2026 conflict period as part of a broader pattern of secretive executions of Kurdish prisoners on charges ranging from 'enmity against God' to arms possession. The wartime period has seen an acceleration in the rate of executions compared to 2024-25.

Zaleh's execution, like that of Maroufpour, was carried out without public announcement and without prior family notification, consistent with Hengaw's documentation of the broader pattern. He was a Kurdish political prisoner; the specific charges and duration of detention are not confirmed in Hengaw's public reporting.