The latest death sentence against Arghavan Fallahi, a supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran comes amid an escalating campaign of executions and prosecutions targeting political prisoners.
Arghavan Fallahi, a 25-year-old political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), has been sentenced to death by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, according to information conveyed to her lawyer on July 1, 2026. The court is presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, who has overseen numerous high-profile political cases.
Salavai, aka “hanging judge” has issued many
Fallahi was arrested on January 25, 2025, in the city of Parand and transferred to Ward 241 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the Judiciary’s Intelligence Protection Organization. According to available reports, she spent approximately five months in solitary confinement, where she was subjected to prolonged interrogation as well as physical and psychological torture. Following the evacuation of Evin Prison after the conflict earlier this year, she was transferred to solitary confinement in Fashafouyeh (Greater Tehran) Prison before eventually being returned to the women’s ward of Evin Prison, where she remains detained.
This is not the first time Fallahi has faced imprisonment. On November 4, 2022, she was arrested in Shiraz together with her father, Nasrollah Fallahi, a former political prisoner from the 1980s who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Ward 7 of Evin Prison.
The sentence comes amid a broader escalation in the use of the death penalty against political prisoners, particularly individuals accused of supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. In recent months, Iranian authorities have issued multiple new death sentences against PMOI supporters, including Zahra Tabari, Amin (Peyman) Farahavar, and five political prisoners held in Sheiban Prison—Masoud Jamei, Alireza Mardasi, Farshad Etemadifar, Reza Abdali, and Hassan Mosallavi—who remain at risk of execution.
The recent crackdown has also been accompanied by executions. On April 20, 2026, political prisoners Hamed Validi and Mohammad Massoum-Shahi, both affiliated with the PMOI, were executed. Earlier, between March 30 to April 4, 2026, authorities executed six other PMOI members—Vahid Baniamerian, Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, Pouya Ghobadi, Babak Alipour, and Abolhassan Montazar—following what human rights organizations called sham trials. At the same time, Iranian authorities have continued to carry out executions of detainees arrested during the January 2026 nationwide protests, bringing the number of confirmed executed protesters to at least 20.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly expressed concern over Iran’s increasing use of capital punishment against political opponents, warning that death sentences are being issued following proceedings that fall short of international fair trial standards. Fallahi’s case adds to a growing list of political prisoners currently facing execution as pressure on opposition supporters continues to intensify.