24APR

Iran executes Shirzadi Fakhr at dawn

1 min read

11:11UTC

Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was executed on Thursday 23 April on moharebeh and Israel-collaboration charges, Hengaw documented, separate from the protest-era detainee cohort.

← Back to Allies flagged, adversaries listed, nothing signed Jump to analysis ↓

ConflictDeveloping

Key takeaway

A new wartime charge category, Israel collaboration, runs alongside the protest-era executions Hengaw tracks separately.

Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was executed at dawn on Thursday 23 April on moharebeh and "collaboration with Israel" charges, according to Hengaw⁠¹. The Hengaw note records the case as separate from the protest-era detainee cohort the organisation has tracked since the war began. Hengaw is the Norway-based Iranian human rights documentation organisation; moharebeh is the Persian Sharia-law charge of "enmity against God", historically applied to political and security offences and carrying the death penalty under Iran's penal code.

The distinction matters for the wartime judicial record. Iran's domestic security apparatus is now running two parallel execution tracks: the protest-era moharebeh sentences Hengaw has been tabulating, and a separate Israel-collaboration cohort opened by the war. Three Ali Fahim co-defendants (Shahab Zahdi, Abolfazl Salehi Siavoshani and Yaser Rajaeifar) remain in solitary confinement at Ghezel Hesar prison facing imminent execution per Hengaw, after Iran executed Erfan Kiani on Saturday 25 April as the eighth wartime political prisoner.

The MEK (Mojahedin-e Khalq) listing on Shirzadi Fakhr's charge sheet is the legal mechanism Iran uses to fold political opposition into security prosecution; the Israeli-collaboration framing is the wartime layer added on top. Together they describe an executive judicial process that requires no public trial and exposes families to courier-only notification of sentence dates.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

moharebeh is an Islamic legal concept meaning 'enmity against God', used in Iranian law to charge people with crimes against the state or Islam. Iran's judiciary uses it as a capital charge for a broad range of offences, from armed insurgency to protest activity. The additional 'collaboration with Israel' charge in Shirzadi Fakhr's case is new in wartime Iran: it reflects the government's effort to frame wartime dissent as active support for the military enemy, carrying a harder legal basis for the death penalty. **Hengaw**, the Norway-based Kurdish human rights organisation monitoring these cases, keeps a running count because Iranian state media rarely reports individual executions unless they serve a deterrence function.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

The 'Israel-collaboration' charge category raises the offence from a domestic-law matter to a wartime treason equivalent, which is harder for international human rights organisations to contest under Iranian law. A moharebeh conviction alone can be appealed on procedural grounds; a wartime collaboration charge activates emergency-jurisdiction courts with faster timelines.

The charge also signals to Iran's internal surveillance network that the threshold for capital charges has expanded beyond protest activity to include any contact with Israeli or Israeli-proximate entities. In practice, that covers a wide range of Iranian diaspora and commercial relationships, giving the **IRGC** and judiciary a broadened pool of potential targets.

What could happen next?

Meaning
The creation of a 'wartime Israel-collaboration' capital charge category is likely to accelerate the pace of executions against Iranians with any documented contact with Israeli entities, including dual nationals and academics.
Short term · Assessed
Meaning
Three Ali Fahim co-defendants in solitary at Ghezel Hesar face the same moharebeh framework; the Shirzadi Fakhr execution, documented separately by Hengaw, suggests the judiciary is processing the two cohorts in parallel rather than in sequence.
Short term · Assessed
Meaning
International human rights bodies including Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran now face a dual-track execution programme: protest-era sentences and a new wartime collaboration category, complicating the legal arguments for any moratorium.
Short term · Assessed

Sources:Hengaw

Mentions:Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr →Hengaw →MEK →Israel →Shahab Zahdi →Yaser Rajaeifar →Abolfazl Salehi Siavoshani →Erfan Kiani →moharebeh →Ali Fahim →Iran →Norway →Qezel Hesar Prison →

First Reported In

Update #80 · Three carriers, zero instruments

Hengaw· 26 Apr 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

Iran executes Erfan Kiani, eighth wartime hanging

The execution of Shirzadi Fakhr on 23 April follows the execution of Erfan Kiani on moharebeh charges on 25 April (ID:2781), extending Iran's wartime execution record with a new Israel-collaboration charge category.

Occurred 25 Apr 2026

Read story →

This Event

Iran executes Shirzadi Fakhr at dawn

A new wartime charge category appears alongside the protest-era moharebeh sentences: collaboration with foreign enemies, separately tracked.

Different Perspectives

Wang Yi

China's foreign minister and Djibouti's issued a joint communique on 21 October saying the war should not reach the Horn of Africa and stressing free navigation through Bab al-Mandeb. The text names neither Iran nor the Houthis, and Djibouti hosts China's only overseas military base, opposite the Yemeni coast.

Ministry of External Affairs

India's foreign ministry called the attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites "unacceptable" on 22 October and said they must stop at once. An Indian died at Dammam, Indians were injured there and at Shaybah, and about 4,000 Umrah pilgrims remain stranded by one MP's count.

Iraq

Iraq closed the al-Sheeb crossing with Iran to travellers and trucks from 21 October and said other crossings would close gradually. Unlike September's closure, which ended on a staged timetable, this one has none, and Iran's interior ministry said it received no notice.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Egypt's president said on 21 October that Cairo's support would "defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen". Araghchi warned that Egyptian involvement would further complicate the situation, and Cairo's limit matches the one Ankara set on 8 October against attacking another state's soil.

UK Ministry of Defence

The MoD said on 20 October that RAF Typhoons over Saudi Arabia will not strike the Houthis, but extended tanker support to Saudi operations including against Houthi targets in Yemen. The tanker line sets no limit on strikes, so British aircraft may now refuel Saudi jets on bombing runs.

Turkey

Ankara sent the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement to parliament around 20 October, and its published text treats an attack on one party as an attack on all. Article 16 brings it into force only on the last ratification, so the 5 October invocation in Riyadh could not yet bind Turkey.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.