Iranian authorities executed two men, Mohyeddin Abdollahi and Hossein Palani, at Dizel Abad prison in Kermanshah early on Tuesday, the judiciary’s Mizan Online news agency reported. The pair were convicted of “armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic” and membership in an Islamic State (ISIL) cell. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, the execution was conducted secretly, without a final family visit, and the men had been detained since 2017 in connection with a clash between the Revolutionary Guards and a group affiliated with ISIL in the Bamu heights of Kermanshah province.

Mizan stated that the cell had formed after ISIL’s territorial collapse in Iraq and Syria, establishing a presence along the Iran-Iraq border to recruit fighters, stockpile weapons, and plan cross-border attacks. Security forces encircled the group before any operation could be launched, killing several militants and arresting the rest; three IRGC personnel died in the engagement. The judiciary said the defendants had access to lawyers and that the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences after reviewing the evidence. Independent verification of the charges and trial proceedings remains impossible, and human rights organisations have repeatedly warned that security cases in Iran rely on closed-door hearings, intelligence reports, and confessions that detainees say are extracted under torture.

The executions form part of a documented acceleration in the use of the death penalty since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in the summer of 2025, which followed US-Israeli strikes on Iranian territory in February of that year. Iran Human Rights reported that at least 370 people were executed in the first half of 2026, with 101 in June alone. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran has described the increase as unprecedented, noting that capital punishment is being used as an instrument of repression. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei has publicly urged prosecutors to expedite cases linked to the war and to the nationwide protests of December 2024.

Viewed from European and UN human rights bodies, the executions highlight a pattern in which the death penalty is applied not only for ordinary crimes but also to silence dissent and intimidate opponents. The passage of a law on “aggravated espionage punishment” after the 2025 conflict has provided a legal framework for fast-tracking death sentences in security-related cases. With dozens of similar cases pending, including those of individuals arrested during the December protests, rights monitors expect further executions in the coming weeks. The dossier remains under active scrutiny by the UN Human Rights Council and international non-governmental organisations.