18JUL

Protester hanged in secret at Isfahan

1 min read

13:17UTC

Hengaw documented the secret execution of protester Mohammad Amini Dehaghani at Isfahan on 15 July, with no public record of his arrest or trial.

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Key takeaway

Iran secretly executed a January-protest detainee at Isfahan, one of three hangings in two days.

Hengaw, the Norway-based Kurdish rights monitor, documented the secret execution of Mohammad Amini Dehaghani at a prison in Isfahan province on 15 July, a detainee from the January 2026 protests whose arrest and trial were never made public. ¹

The judiciary-linked Mizan agency said Dehaghani was accused of setting fire to a governor's office during the protests but did not disclose the capital charge. Hengaw says he was denied an independent lawyer and in-person family visits, and that nothing about his case surfaced until state media announced the execution after the fact. ² Two more prisoners tied to earlier uprisings were hanged on 16 July, at Karaj and Isfahan, three executions in two days.

Dehaghani's case is distinct from the death sentence handed to Arghavan Fallahi on 1 July . These hangings proceed while the world's attention fixes on the strait and the strikes, and Tehran clears its protest docket unseen. Hengaw reports 12 more Isfahan detainees whose files reached the Revolutionary Court's enforcement unit on 5 July, which points to more executions to come rather than an isolated week.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Hengaw is a Norway-based group that tracks human rights abuses in Iran, particularly against Kurdish and other minority communities. It reported that Mohammad Amini Dehaghani was secretly hanged in Isfahan on 15 July over an arson charge connected to protests that swept Iran in January. Nobody had publicly reported his arrest or trial before news of his execution emerged. Two more prisoners linked to the same protests were executed the following day in Karaj and Isfahan.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Iran's moharebeh, 'enmity against God', and efsad-fel-arz, 'corruption on earth', statutes permit capital punishment for property offences such as arson committed during unrest, without requiring proof of violence against a person.

Iranian law also does not mandate public notification of arrest or trial dates in national-security-adjacent cases, a structural gap that lets executions like Amini Dehaghani's proceed and only surface once a monitor such as Hengaw documents them after the fact.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Executions proceeding with no public arrest or trial record ahead of time make outside verification possible only after the fact, through monitors like Hengaw rather than any Iranian judicial disclosure.

Sources:Press TV

Mentions:Hengaw →Isfahan →Karaj →Mizan →Norway →Revolutionary Court →Iran →Tehran →

First Reported In

Update #155 · US bombing moves inland as blockade hardens

Press TV· 18 Jul 2026

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