05 April 2026 :
April 4, 2026 - IRAN. Vahid Baniamerian (Vahid Bani Amerian) and Abolhassan Montazer executed
The two political prisoners were executed early on April 4, 2026, in secret, without prior notice to their families, and were denied a final visit, at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.
Their co-defendants who were hanged on 30 and 31 March. The executions of all six political prisoners were secretly carried out, without prior notification.
Condemning the executions in the strongest terms, IHRNGO draws the international community’s attention to the daily execution of political prisoners in Iran and warns of more such executions in the coming days and weeks.
IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “These executions must be condemned in the strongest terms by the international community. Iran’s regime is intensifying its war on the Iranian people while global attention is focused on the US–Israeli war with Iran.” He added: “Struggling for survival, the authorities know their main existential threat comes from the Iranian people, who don’t want a repressive, corrupt and incompetent regime and are demanding fundamental change. Lacking legitimacy, the authorities rely on fear to maintain power, and the death penalty remains their most brutal instrument. We warn against more executions of political prisoners and protesters in the coming days and weeks."
According to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency, political prisoners Vahid Baniamerian and Abolhassan Montazer were hanged at an unspecified location on 4 April 2026. IHRNGO has established the location of their executions as Ghezelhesar Prison in Alborz province. Their executions were carried out secretly, without their families or lawyers receiving prior notification. They were defendants in a case of six defendants. On 30 March, Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi and Ali Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar’s executions were secretly carried out. The next day, Pouya Ghobadi and Babak Alipour were secretly hanged.
On 1 April, IHRNGO issued a statement calling for urgent action to save the lives of Vahid Baniamerian and Abolhassan Montazer.
Vahid Baniamerian was a 32-year-old elite student with an MBA who taught physics. Previously arrested in February 2018 and 2019, his father was a political prisoner in the 1980s. In court, he told “Death Judge” Moghisseh who was complicit in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners: “We await the day when we can prosecute you and Raisi (late President and a member of the death committees), the raging river of martyrs' blood is flowing, and we will avenge the martyrs of the 1988 massacre.” He received a ten year sentence and was released in February 2022 and exiled to Hormozgan province. Vahid was rearrested on 22 December 2023 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison.
Abolhassan Montazer was a 65-year-old architect and father of two who was previously jailed under the reign of the Shah, four years in the 1980s and in 2019. In June 2021, he underwent open heart surgery before being transferred to Evin Prison. Abolhassan was released in March 2022 and rearrested on 22 December 2023 and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison where he was held for four months before being transferred to Ward 4 of the prison.
Along with co-defendants, Vahid and Abolhassan were subjected to physical and psychological torture, including mock executions, to coerce confessions, held in prolonged solitary confinement and denied access to their lawyers.
The six political prisoners were sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, on 25 November 2024. They were sentenced on charges of baghy (armed rebellion) through membership of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), with each receiving additional prison and exile terms for charges including “assembly and collusion against national security.” According to their families, the political prisoners were only granted minutes to defend themselves.
In July 2025, their sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court and their case was referred to a court of equal standing for retrial. They were retried by Judge Iman Afshari at Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court in November and resentenced to death on 7 December 2025. It is not clear when their sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. Informed sources previously told IHRNGO that their relatives were awaiting news of the Supreme Court decision when the executions took place. This was confirmed by one of the lawyers in the case.
As well as the six defendants in this case, Islamic Republic authorities also announced the execution of Amirhossein Hatami, an 18-year-old January 2026 protester, on 2 April. He was the fourth protester to be hanged in relation to the nationwide December 2025/January 2026 protests. Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi were hanged in Qom on 19 March.
Amirhossein Hatami’s co-defendants, Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, Shahab Zohdi and Yaser Rajaifar are at grave and imminent risk of execution.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/8666/
https://www.en-hrana.org/political-prisoners-abolhassan-montazer-and-vahid-bani-amerian-executed/
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/04/article-9
