Iran executes two Kurds over alleged ‘separatist’ links, sparks outrage

According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), the two men were Kurdish political prisoners identified as Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour.

The rights group said the pair were secretly executed at Naqadeh Prison in the early hours of May 21.

KHRN further claimed that both men were denied a final meeting with their families before the execution. As of publication, their bodies had reportedly not been returned to their relatives.

A former cellmate of Zaleh and Maroufpour told KHRN that the two men, along with another detainee identified as Khedr Mohammadpour, were arrested in the summer of 2024 by forces from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation and transferred to a security detention centre in Orumiyeh.

The source alleged that the detainees were subjected to months of physical and psychological torture in an attempt to extract forced confessions, claiming they had planned to kill a member of the Revolutionary Guards in Piranshahr.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a total of 34 prisoners facing similar charges have been executed since the beginning of the conflict involving Iran and the US-Israel alliance, raising growing international concern over Tehran’s handling of political detainees and alleged dissidents.

Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement: " The purpose of these executions is to instill fear in society. The Islamic Republic knows that under the shadow of war, the political cost of executing political prisoners is lower, given the international community's focus on the war.” He added: “The international community, particularly European countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic, must unequivocally condemn the daily executions of political prisoners. An immediate halt to these executions must be a central demand in any dialogue or negotiation with the Islamic Republic."