Navy graphic with prison bars illustrating the Iran death row case of Reza Zanganeh

Reza Zanganeh’s Death Sentence: Mossad Charge, Solitary Move and a Pending Appeal

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Key facts: Reza Zanganeh, a 27-year-old car mechanic from Malayer in western Iran, is on death row in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj after Branch 2 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court convicted him of moharebeh (“enmity against God”) and cooperating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. He was arrested on April 3, 2026; the sentence was first reported in late August; and on October 12, 2026, the rights news agency HRANA reported that he had been moved into a solitary cell. His appeal has been referred to Iran’s Supreme Court, and no ruling or execution date has been made public.

The transfer has drawn attention from Iranian rights monitors because, in other cases, moves to solitary confinement have come shortly before executions. HRANA said it had no information on why Zanganeh was moved. This report sets out what independent sources have confirmed, where his case stands in Iran’s legal system, and how it fits into the country’s recent use of the death penalty.

Timeline of the Reza Zanganeh case

  • April 3, 2026: Security forces arrest Zanganeh during a raid on his workplace in Malard, Alborz Province, according to the Kurdish rights group Hengaw. HRANA dates the arrest to the Iranian month of Farvardin and places it in Karaj. He is then taken to Ghezel Hesar Prison, where he has been held since.
  • August 27, 2026: IranWire reports that a death sentence has been issued and that the case file has gone to the Supreme Court.
  • August 28, 2026: Hengaw publishes its own account of the verdict, naming the judges and describing a 12-day window to challenge it.
  • October 12, 2026: HRANA reports that Zanganeh has been transferred to a solitary cell in Ghezel Hesar. IranWire and Iran International carry the report the same day.

The charges and the court

According to HRANA, IranWire and Hengaw, the verdict was handed down by Branch 2 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Sabzevari, with Judge Narimani serving as adviser. Revolutionary courts in Iran hear cases that authorities classify as national security matters, including espionage.

The two charges reported are moharebeh, a capital offense under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, and “cooperation with Mossad.” HRANA described the second count as what the judiciary has called spying for Israel. Iranian authorities have not published the evidence in the case, and The Boston Report found no official statement from the judiciary about it.

The defense position comes from people close to the prisoner. Hengaw quoted informed sources as saying the Mossad allegation rests “solely on his work repairing foreign vehicles and previous work-related travel abroad.” IranWire reported that his family and relatives “strongly rejected” the charge. These accounts could not be independently checked against court records, which are not public.

Legal process: where the appeal stands

IranWire reported that Zanganeh was first represented by a court-appointed lawyer and that his family later hired a defense attorney of its own choosing. After the verdict, the family was given 12 days to file an objection, and the case was sent to the Supreme Court for review, according to both IranWire and Hengaw.

As of October 13, no outlet or rights group has reported that the Supreme Court has upheld the sentence. IranWire noted that no official information had been released on a final confirmation or on a scheduled execution date. Hengaw also reported that security agencies have pressed his family to stay silent about the case; that claim comes from the group’s unnamed informed sources and has not been addressed by Iranian officials.

Why the solitary transfer matters to monitors

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), a Norway-based group that tracks executions, regularly refers to “pre-execution solitary confinement” in its reports, describing a practice in which prisoners are isolated in the days before they are hanged. IranWire, in its report on Zanganeh, wrote that such transfers of death-row prisoners “often heighten concerns regarding potential execution.”

That pattern does not mean an execution is scheduled in this case. HRANA reported that the reason for the move was unknown, and none of the sources consulted reported a final ruling or a date.

Context: Iran’s executions in 2025 and 2026

IHRNGO and the French group ECPM reported in their 2025 annual report that at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025, up 68% from 975 in 2024 and the highest number recorded since 1989. Only 113 of those executions were announced by official sources, according to the report.

In a report released October 10, 2026, for the World Day Against the Death Penalty, IHRNGO said at least 617 people had been executed between January 1 and October 10, 2026, an average of more than two a day. That is lower than the 1,181 the group recorded in the same period of 2025. IHRNGO said about 87% of this year’s executions were for ordinary crimes, mainly murder and drug offenses, and that 16 people had been executed on espionage-related charges, including accusations of spying for foreign states. The group said only 91 of the 617 executions were officially announced.

For more on Iran’s security posture this month, see our reports on UK sanctions over an alleged IRGC-linked plot at RAF Fairford and Iran’s work to fortify its nuclear sites.

Reactions

Iranian authorities have not commented publicly on the case. Hengaw’s sources and IranWire both reported that Zanganeh’s relatives reject the espionage allegation. In its October 10 report, IHRNGO called on Iran to impose “an immediate moratorium” on executions. No statement specific to Zanganeh from the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran or from Amnesty International could be found as of publication.

The Boston Report will update this story if the Supreme Court rules or officials comment.

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Additional sources

Featured image: The Boston Report graphic.