Fourteen prisoners were moved from the general wing to solitary confinement in Isfahan’s Dastgerd prison on Saturday, according to reports from Iranian media and rights monitors. Twelve of the men are convicted in connection with the death of government forces during the suppression of national uprising protests, in what authorities term the “Meydan Alikhani” case. The transfer, which sources say typically precedes executions, has triggered a hunger strike among other inmates in the facility and prompted warnings that the sentences could be carried out within days. The twelve, whose death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court, include 19-year-old Erfan Esfandiari, who was reportedly summoned for a final visit.

Viewed from Tehran, the accelerated enforcement of capital punishment forms part of a broader pattern. In Ghezel Hesar prison, a mass hunger strike that began on 13 July has continued for at least four days, with inmates protesting the anticipated execution of six prisoners convicted on drug-related charges. The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that prison authorities refused to transfer weakened strikers to the clinic, and video footage showed unconscious detainees held at a locked unit door. Separately, IranWire has learned that several protesters arrested in Shahrud during the December 2024 unrest, including 20-year-old Arvin Khirkhahan, face execution on charges linked to an attack on a mosque. The judiciary has not publicly commented on these cases.

These developments unfold as the Islamic Republic confronts a sharp military escalation with the United States. Following a seventh consecutive night of American strikes on military and logistical sites inside Iran, the Revolutionary Guards launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks against Washington’s regional allies. Kuwait’s international airport suspended operations after a projectile hit a desalination plant, and the Guards claimed strikes on a US support centre at Camp Arifjan, a radar installation at Ali Al Salem airbase, and Sheikh Isa airbase in Bahrain. Reuters reported it could not independently verify the claims. The Pentagon is deploying additional F-16 and F-35 jets and tanker aircraft to the Middle East, while the US has announced a naval blockade and Iran has targeted vessels it says violated its rules for transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices rose more than four percent to a one-month high.

Western officials and London-based analysts note that the regime’s domestic repression often intensifies during periods of external military pressure, as the leadership seeks to eliminate perceived internal threats. The cultural sphere has not been spared: photographer Tahmineh Monzavi and eight other members of the “Caravanserai Concert” project were sentenced to 74 lashes, a two-year ban on artistic work, and a travel prohibition after a trial in Qom. The concert, performed without compulsory hijab at a historic caravanserai, was broadcast on YouTube and viewed over 100,000 times within hours. The court convicted the group of “offending public decency” through the production and distribution of “vulgar” content. The UN and human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned Iran’s use of the death penalty, with Amnesty International recording an “unprecedented” 2,159 executions in 2025. The next factual steps remain uncertain: the Isfahan prisoners’ families await a possible execution date, while the Ghezel Hesar strikers demand a halt to the drug-related sentences pending legal reform.