Iranian authorities secretly executed a 42-year-old Afghan national on an espionage charge at Karaj Central Prison, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
Tourat Mohammadi, a native of Mazar-i-Sharif and father of four, was executed on September 23, according to information obtained by the two rights organizations. His execution was reportedly carried out without prior notification to his family or lawyer.
Hengaw said Mohammadi had previously worked for an organization affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He was arrested about two years ago and spent seven months in an IRGC intelligence detention facility, where he was interrogated before being sentenced to death on espionage charges.
Iran Human Rights said Mohammadi was transferred to Karaj Central Prison six days before his execution. The organization said he was denied a final visit with his wife and children. It also said Iranian state media and official institutions had not announced the execution at the time of its report.
The groups did not provide details establishing which country Mohammadi was allegedly accused of spying for. Iran Human Rights said he was the 16th person executed in Iran in 2026 on espionage-related charges. It reported that 14 of those cases involved allegations of espionage for Israel or the United States, while two Iraqi nationals were accused of spying for an unidentified Arab country.
The execution comes amid a broader increase in espionage-related death sentences in Iran following heightened tensions with Israel and the United States. Iran Human Rights said the number of such executions increased significantly after the 2025 Twelve-Day War.
Afghan nationals have also faced a rising number of executions in Iran. Afghan media, citing human rights organizations, have reported that dozens of Afghan citizens were executed in Iran in recent years, although Iranian authorities do not consistently publish information on executions involving Afghan nationals.
