TEHRAN — Iran executed two political prisoners, Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi, on March 31, 2026. The two men had been accused of membership in the Mujahedin-e Khalq, an exiled opposition group that Tehran regards as a terrorist organization.

Hours after the executions, lawyer Babak Paknia said his office had not received the verdict from the trial. "Before the sentence is carried out, it is necessary to notify its contents to the defense lawyers or at least to the defendant himself," Paknia said. "The minimum right of the convicted person is to be able to benefit from the right to retrial and to a stay of execution."

Iranian human rights campaigner Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said the two men had been subjected to abuse while in custody. "Alipour and Ghobadi were kept in solitary confinement for long periods after their arrest. They were tortured and confessions were extracted from them -- confessions that, even under the laws of the Islamic republic itself, are not actually legal," he said.

Two other defendants in the same case, Vahid Bani-Amirian and Abolhassan Montazer, could face the death sentence. Amiry-Moghaddam said that clerical authorities were using the war as cover for executions and that the conflict reduced the political cost for authorities to carry them out because international attention was focused elsewhere.

"The Islamic republic's main threat -- what truly endangers its survival -- is the Iranian people and popular protests. The goal of these executions is to instill fear among the population," he said.

The Mujahedin-e Khalq described Alipour and Ghobadi as members and issued a statement condemning the executions. "This reflects the regime's fear of the people and their embrace of the resistance units. This bloodshed will forever roll up the disgraceful scroll of the regime," the group said.

The executions followed a period of broader unrest. Security forces were reported to have used force against mass protests in Iran in January 2026. The Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had verified nearly 7,000 deaths during Iran's crackdown on protesters that month and reported many additional arrests, though the figures could not be independently confirmed.

A United Nations expert panel issued a statement on March 30, 2026, expressing grave concern about executions carried out that day and earlier in March. Reza Younesi, whose brother and father are being held in different prisons in Iran on accusations of MEK membership, has drawn attention to conditions inside the country's detention facilities.

Iranian judicial and government authorities did not provide comment on the executions. Claims made by the Mujahedin-e Khalq, which is proscribed inside Iran, could not be independently verified.