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Iran Conflict 2026
2MAY

Iran executes Erfan Kiani, eighth wartime hanging

3 min read
13:27UTC

Erfan Kiani was executed in the early hours of Saturday 25 April on moharebeh and protest-related charges. Hengaw counts him as the eighth political prisoner executed since the war began.

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Key takeaway

Kiani is the eighth wartime political execution; three Ali Fahim co-defendants remain flagged for imminent hanging.

Erfan Kiani was executed in the early hours of Saturday 25 April, the eighth political prisoner executed since the war began per Hengaw⁠1. Kiani was arrested during protests in Isfahan that began in late December 2025 and continued into January 2026; charges included moharebeh (waging war against God), "creating insecurity" and "inciting violent acts". the Supreme Court upheld the sentence; Iranian authorities did not disclose the execution location.

Hengaw is the Kurdistan Human Rights Network's Norway-registered NGO, founded in 2017, and one of the principal external trackers of detentions and executions inside Iran. Its eight-since-the-war count groups protest-related and political-prisoner executions together rather than the broader Iranian execution rate, which has run far higher across recent years. The metric is wartime political-prisoner executions specifically, the population external trackers most often read as a domestic-stability signal for the Iranian government.

Kiani is a separate Isfahan-protest case from the three Ali Fahim co-defendants (Shahab Zahdi, Abolfazl Salehi Siavoshani, Yaser Rajaeifar) flagged for imminent execution by Hengaw on 24 April. Both files sit on the security apparatus's docket on the same weekend the diplomatic track collapsed in Islamabad and OFAC produced two designation rounds in Washington. Iran's domestic security apparatus has run on its own cadence through every break in the diplomatic track since the war began.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Since protests erupted in Iran in late 2025, the government has been using the criminal justice system to punish people who joined street demonstrations. The charge most commonly used is 'moharebeh', an Islamic legal concept meaning 'enmity towards God'. In practice, courts apply it to people who participated in protests that turned violent, or who were accused of involvement in attacks on security forces. Hengaw, a Norwegian human rights organisation that monitors Iran, has counted eight protest-related executions since the US-Iran war began in February 2026. Each person was arrested during the protest wave, put through a military-style court process, and executed, in most cases secretly and without their families being notified first. The pattern matters because the government is using the cover of war to accelerate the judicial response to the protest movement. International attention is concentrated on the military conflict, reducing the diplomatic cost of each execution.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Iran's Supreme Court issued a 'maximum decisiveness' directive in late February 2026, immediately after US strikes began, authorising fast-track review of protest-era cases on the grounds that judicial delay in wartime undermines state authority. Multiple documented cases, including Kiani's, have moved from final appeal to execution in under 90 days under this directive, against the normal timeline of 12-18 months.

Iran's nationwide internet blackout has been running continuously since early February 2026, exceeding 1,200 hours. The blackout does not simply prevent Iranians from communicating: it prevents human rights organisations from receiving timely information about executions.

Hengaw documented Kiani's execution through its on-the-ground contact network, but confirmation came hours after the fact. Families cannot mobilise international attention in time to create pressure before a sentence is carried out.

What could happen next?
  • Risk

    Three remaining Ali Fahim case co-defendants (Zahdi, Siavoshani, Rajaeifar) at Ghezel Hesar face imminent execution; Hengaw's track record of advance warning on this case suggests a further execution within 72 hours is the base case.

  • Consequence

    The wartime moharebeh expansion, if not reversed after the war ends, creates a permanent legal precedent for applying the charge to non-violent protest participants, restructuring the charge's scope for future use.

Sources:Hengaw Organization for Human Rights·Hengaw Organization for Human Rights
Mentions:Hengaw →Iran →Isfahan →Shahab Zahdi →Abolfazl Salehi Siavoshani →Yaser Rajaeifar →Ali Fahim →The National News →Mahsa Amini →Kurdistan →OFAC →Supreme Court of the United Kingdom →Washington →Iran Human Rights →Islamabad →Amnesty International →Norway →Erfan Kiani →moharebeh →Kurdistan Human Rights Network →
First Reported In

Update #79 · Islamabad 3 collapses; Witkoff grounded, talks stall

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights· 25 Apr 2026
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Causes and effects
Caused by
Three Ali Fahim co-defendants face execution
Kiani execution is the eighth wartime political execution, a new development in the pattern of executions flagged by Hengaw in update #78
Occurred 24 Apr 2026
Read story →
This Event
Iran executes Erfan Kiani, eighth wartime hanging
The domestic security apparatus is running independently of the diplomatic track, and Hengaw flagged three further imminent executions on 24 April.
Led to
Iran executes Shirzadi Fakhr at dawn
The execution of Shirzadi Fakhr on 23 April follows the execution of Erfan Kiani on moharebeh charges on 25 April, extending Iran's wartime execution record with a new Israel-collaboration charge category.
Occurred 23 Apr 2026
Read story →
Yazd execution; three Ali Fahim defendants in solitary
Erfan Kiani's moharebeh execution at Ghezel Hesar on 25 April establishes the institutional pattern continued by the Fakhrabadi execution and the three surviving co-defendants
Occurred 27 Apr 2026
Read story →
Different Perspectives
Office for Budget Responsibility
Office for Budget Responsibility
The OBR's 28 October forecast assumed $82 oil for 2026 and 2027, from market prices for the ten working days to 19 August, and blamed dearer wholesale energy on the war without naming Iran. It expects CPI inflation close to 4% in early 2027 even at that price.
Hengaw, Kurdish rights group
Hengaw, Kurdish rights group
Hengaw reported the 3 November hangings of Amirhossein Maleki and Amirhossein Ebrahimi in Isfahan, saying Ebrahimi was tortured into confessing and that nine of 12 people sentenced to death in the case have now been hanged. Iran's judiciary holds that the defendants killed members of the security forces.
FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit
FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit
FINTRAC worked with the US Treasury on the 6 November designation of eight money services businesses in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Treasury says the businesses still operate, some under new names, so closing them falls to Ottawa.
Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil, Governor of Nineveh
Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil, Governor of Nineveh
Al-Dakhil cancelled three Mosul International Airport contracts on 7 November over alleged links to armed groups, after meeting Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Baghdad. He named no group or company, and said the contracts will go to international companies.
Kuwait
Kuwait
Kuwait condemned the Houthi missile fired towards the Madinah region on 5 November and restated its support for Saudi Arabia, the Qatar News Agency reported. Its state tanker company, Kuwait Oil Tankers Company, is among the Gulf state fleets on Iran's expanded Hormuz list.
Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary
Treasury designated an alleged Chandigarh false-flag network on 4 November and eight Canadian exchangers on 6 November, while State sanctioned alleged MANPADS intermediaries. None of the actions touches an oil buyer; they target the paper, cash and procurement around Iran's trade.

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