The death sentences of five political, security, and religious prisoners — including three Baloch prisoners — were carried out in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad.
According to the Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners, the executions of Farhad Shakeri, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, and Malek Ali Fadaei-Nasab were carried out on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, without prior notice and without allowing a final visit with their families.
Four of those executed were Sunni Muslims, while Malek Ali Fadaei-Nasab was the only Shiite defendant in the case. Nevertheless, all were convicted in a joint case and sentenced to death on charges of “baghi” (armed rebellion).
The case involved 12 defendants — 11 Sunni and one Shiite (Fadaei-Nasab). These individuals were arrested in 2015 by Ministry of Intelligence forces and transferred to Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad about a year later.
In 2019, Branch One of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mahmoud Davoodabadi, sentenced nine defendants — Malek Ali Fadaei-Nasab, Hamid Rastbala, Farhad Shakeri, Kabir Saadat Jahani, Mohammad Ali Arayesh, Isa Eidmohammadi, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, and Taj Mohammad Khormali — to death on charges of “baghi through membership in the group Hezbollah-e-Furqan and the National Solidarity Front of Iran’s Sunnis.”
The other three defendants — Mohammadreza Sheikh Ahmadi, Abdolbaset Oorsan, and Morteza Fakoori — were sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of “baghi through membership in Salafi and ISIS-affiliated groups.”
In January 2021, the death sentences of Hamid Rastbala, Kabir Saadat Jahani, and Mohammad Ali Arayesh were carried out.
After partial annulment of the verdicts by the Supreme Court, the case was sent back for review. Ultimately, in August 2023, Branch Four of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Ahmadian Salami, once again sentenced six defendants — including Farhad Shakeri, Abdolhakim Azim Gorgij, Abdolrahman Gorgij, Taj Mohammad Khormali, Malek Ali Fadaei-Nasab, and Isa Eidmohammadi — to death. Their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2024.