IRAN - Yaghoub Karimpour and Naser Bakerzadeh

IRAN - Yaghoub Karimpour and Naser Bakerzadeh Hanged on May 2

May 2, 2026:

May 2, 2026 - IRAN. Yaghoub Karimpour (Yaqoub Karimpour) and Naser Bakerzadeh (Naser Bakrzadeh) Hanged on May 2

For Espionage for Israel

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out at dawn today at Urmia Central Prison. State-affiliated Mehr News Agency has officially confirmed the executions.

Yaghoub Karimpour, an Azerbaijani-Turkic man, and Naser Bakerzadeh, a Kurdish man, were executed for charges related to espionage for Israel. They were both reported to have been subjected to torture to extract self-incriminating confessions. At least six men have been executed for alleged espionage for Israel in 2026.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Yaghoub Karimpour (right photo) and Naser Bakerzadeh (left photo) were hanged at an unspecified location on 2 May 2026. Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported that the two men were transferred to an unknown location from Urmia Central Prison on 30 April. Both men are reported to have “confessed” to the “crimes.”

Yaghoub Karimpour was a 43-year-old Azerbaijani-Turkic law graduate who suffered from physical disabilities. He was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence on 13 June 2025, the first day of Israel’s Twelve-Day War against Iran.

An informed source told IHR: “Yaghoub was held in a Miandoab detention facility for 75 days and subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. Interrogators successfully extracted forced confessions from him by falsely promising that admitting to the charges would save his life.” Without access to a lawyer, he was transferred to Urmia Central Prison after 75 days.

Yaghoub was sentenced to death on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through espionage and sabotage. He was accused of constructing and detonating sound bombs, burning flags, filming military barracks, recruiting others to set fire to ATM machines, and making hoax calls to police stations to distract security officers.

Naser Bakerzadeh was a 26-year-old Kurdish man who worked in the tourism trade. According to a letter he sent from prison on 25 April, “I was arrested on 2 January 2024 and held in solitary confinement in the IRGC Intelligence unit for three months, during which time I was subjected to the most severe psychological torture.”

Naser was sentenced to death on the charge of efsad-fil-arz for intelligence cooperation with Mossad. He was accused of taking photographs and videos, travelling to cities including Chabahar and Natanz to collect information, filling out questionnaires regarding local infrastructure such as utility departments and mosques, and compiling the details of governmental and religious figures.

On 30 April, Amir Raesian, one of Naser’s lawyers, reported that the Supreme Court upheld Naser's sentence despite having overturned it twice previously, and without the underlying legal flaws in the case being resolved. The defence team immediately filed an appeal and successfully secured a formal stay of execution on 25 April. However, on 29 April, Naser called from prison to report that he had been suddenly summoned by officials. When his lawyers attempted to check the judiciary's electronic system for updates on the appeal, they discovered their access to the case file had been blocked, leaving them entirely uninformed about his status or the court's decision.

After news of Naser’s execution, the lawyer wrote: “I arrived at the Supreme Court early this morning, only to learn that the appeal had been rejected just a day or two after it was filed. I rushed out to file another appeal, only to see that Mizan News Agency announced that the sentence was carried out.”

Yaghoub Karimpour and Naser Bakerzadeh are the fifth and sixth people to be hanged for espionage for Israel in 2026. Ali Ardestani was hanged on 7 January, Hamidreza Sabet Esmailpour’s execution was reported on 28 January, Kourosh Keyvani was hanged on 18 March and Mehdi Farid’s execution was reported on 22 April.

According to IHRNGO’s 2025 Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, at least 13 people were executed for charges related to espionage for Israel. The surge began in the lead-up to the Twelve-Day War in June 2025; 2 people were executed prior to the war, 3 during the war and the remainder were executed after the war. It is important to note that in some cases, the defendants were not originally arrested for espionage charges. They were coerced and tortured into making self-incriminating confessions that were later used as the basis of their sentences.