Iran court sentences four to death in Ekbatan case linked to 2022 protests

Four defendants in the so-called Ekbatan Town case linked to Iran’s 2022 nationwide protests have been sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), according to foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The ruling was issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati. The four defendants — Milad Armoun, Navid Najaran, Mehdi Imani, and Seyed Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini — were convicted in connection with the killing of a Basij member during unrest in Ekbatan Township in Tehran, News.Az reports, citing HRANA.

In the same case, four other defendants — Amir Mohammad Khosh-Eghbal, Alireza Bormarz Pournak, Alireza Kafaei, and Hossein Nemati — were sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security,” two years for “propaganda against the system,” along with additional penalties including bans on online activity and residency restrictions.

A source familiar with the proceedings told HRANA that the verdict was verbally communicated to the defendants without the presence or prior notification of their lawyers, and has not yet been formally served on defence attorneys, limiting their ability to appeal.

The Ekbatan case stems from arrests made in November 2022, when at least 50 residents of Ekbatan Township were detained following the killing of Basij member Arman Aliverdi during nationwide protests. Indictments were issued against 14 individuals, and the case was later split between Tehran’s Revolutionary Court and Criminal Court.

Parts of the case have seen repeated judicial reversals and retrials, including earlier death sentences that were overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court in 2025 and sent back for review. Earlier criminal court proceedings also resulted in prison terms and orders for compensation payments (diyeh) in some related convictions.

News.Az