Iran executed Arvin Kheirkhahan, a 19-year-old detained during the nationwide protests of Dey 1404 (January 2026), early on the morning of 10 Mordad 1405 (1 August 2026) at Shahroud prison in the north of the country, according to the US-based activist organisation HRANA (Human Rights Activists News Agency). HRANA reported that the sentence, issued by Branch One of the Shahroud Revolutionary Court on charges of “moharebeh” (waging war against God), had been upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court. Family members were told to collect the body at 3 a.m. the following day and to hold the funeral at 5 a.m., a source close to the family told HRANA. As of the time of publication, Iranian authorities had not officially commented on the execution.

Kheirkhahan's execution follows a pattern of intensified judicial action against participants in the January 2026 protests. On 10 Mordad, the same day as his execution, HRANA reported that Iran had earlier in the week publicly executed two other men, Abolfazl Sepahi-Badjani and Amirhossein Safari-Hosseinabadi, in Isfahan's Alikhani Square, according to the judiciary's Mizan news agency. Those two were accused of involvement in the killing of four security-force members on 8 January. Prior to that, two other defendants in the same “Alikhani Square” case, Erfan Esfandiari and Golmohammad Mohammadi, had also been executed, sources told Iran International. A group of UN human rights experts on 5 Mordad condemned the death sentences for all 12 defendants in that case and called for a halt to further executions.

Amnesty International, in a statement on 6 Mordad (28 July 2026), said that since the beginning of 2026 at least 26 people had been executed in connection with the January protests and another 26 on politically motivated charges. The organisation warned that at least 60 more prisoners faced execution on political charges. Iran International’s own review, citing judicial sources, put the total number of political prisoners executed since the start of the Iranian year at more than 50, with dozens more sentenced to death. One source told Iran International on 10 Mordad that Mehdi Zarif, a 21-year-old dentist from Shandiz, was at risk of execution after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The protests that began in Dey 1404 (January 2026) have been described by human-rights groups as the most widespread challenge to the Islamic Republic in decades. In the months since, authorities have launched a wave of arrests, handed down heavy prison terms and sharply increased the use of executions, according to activists cited by Iran International and VOA Persian. Several other defendants have been sentenced in recent days: VOA Persian reported on 10 Mordad that a 17-year-old in Bojnourd, a 32-year-old in North Khorasan, a 19-year-old in Karaj and a citizen in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad had all received prison terms ranging from two to seven years plus fines and lashes. No official statement from the Iranian judiciary has been issued on Kheirkhahan's execution, and the case remains in the preliminary-investigation stage for other detainees, according to sources who spoke to Iran International and IranWire.