IRAN - Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh executed in Ghezel-Hesar on June 23

June 23, 2025 - IRAN. Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh executed in Ghezel-Hesar on June 23

On undocumented charges of “espionage for Israel”

According to information received by Hengaw, the execution was carried out in Ghezel Hesar Prison, in Karaj, in the early hours of June 23, 2025.

Mahdavi Shayesteh, a 27-year-old political prisoner from Tehran, was arrested on December 4, 2023, and held for nearly three months in a high-security detention facility. Following this period, he was transferred to Ward 4 of Evin Prison, which houses espionage-related detainees, before being moved to Ghezel Hesar Prison, where the execution took place. He had been sentenced to death by Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, for “collaboration with Israel.” He was also given an additional five-year prison sentence for “insulting Islamic sanctities.”

The Supreme Court upheld the verdict earlier this year, with Branch 39 of the court—under Judge Ghasem Hosseini Kouh-Kamari—confirming the original conviction.

State-affiliated outlets, including Mizan News Agency, claimed the execution followed “full legal due process.” However, Hengaw stresses that the coordinated timing of this and similar executions with the current military conflict suggests political motives aimed at intimidation and retribution, rather than judicial impartiality.

Mahdavi Shayesteh was subjected to physical and psychological torture, and forced to make confessions under duress during interrogations conducted by Iranian security services. He was denied access to an independent defense attorney throughout the judicial process.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/2025/06/article-90