Iran’s Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence of Nasser Bakerzadeh, a 26-year-old Kurdish prisoner held in Orumiyeh Central Prison, raising urgent fears that his execution may be imminent.
In February 2026, Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, sentenced him to death on charges of “espionage for Israel”.
The Supreme Court’s decision came just 10 days after the case was referred to them and follows a prolonged legal process in which the same court had previously overturned his sentence twice.
On 25 April, Bakerzadeh was summoned to the sentence enforcement office of Orumiyeh Central Prison, where he was formally informed of the Supreme Court’s decision.
According to an informed source, Abdollahzadeh, the prison official responsible for sentence enforcement, threatened Bakerzadeh with imminent execution at the time of notification. When Bakerzadeh protested, the official subjected him to verbal abuse and a severe beating.
The speed of the confirmation – only 10 days after referral – has raised particular concerns. Branch 39 of the Supreme Court had previously overturned Bakerzadeh’s death sentence on two separate occasions, most recently in autumn 2025, citing a lack of legal evidence proving “espionage for Israel”.
On each occasion, the case was returned to Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, which issued a new death sentence. Bakerzadeh states that the third sentence was based on a document copied from the two previous ones.
His case has unfolded against the backdrop of wartime conditions in Iran, a period that has coincided with a marked increase in political executions. The combination of a death sentence that has already been confirmed and the current climate has led to a sharp increase in fears that the sentence could be carried out at any moment.
Following notification of the ruling, Bakerzadeh published an open letter appealing to the public and to international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, to intervene.
In the letter, Bakerzadeh says:
Greetings and salutations to my dear compatriots and my honourable fellow Kurdish speakers,
I am Nasser Bakerzadeh, and you are hearing my voice from Orumiyeh Central Prison. This may be the last time you hear from me. I am the son of Molla Mansour, I am 26 years old, and I have two younger sisters. I was arrested at the age of 23, at the height of my hopes and my desire to live.
From the day of my arrest until today, my mother and father have died and come back to life every single day. The grief of separation and absence has weighed heavily upon their shoulders, and they have grown old and broken in the prime of their lives. There was a time when they were happy and dreamed of seeing their only son dressed as a groom. Just days before my arrest, we were about to go to formally ask for a girl’s hand in marriage, and for four years now she has been waiting for me. Even now, having just heard a few hours ago that my death sentence has been confirmed, I do not know how I will call her and tell her that my sentence has been upheld and that I am to be executed.
After completing school, following my father’s wishes and my own inclination, I began studying at the Salahaddin Ayyoubi Religious Sciences School in Piranshahr. After two years of study, owing to my family’s circumstances, I decided to take some of the burden off my father’s shoulders and opened a mobile phone shop in Orumiyeh.
I was arrested on 2 January 2024 and held in solitary confinement in the IRGC Intelligence unit for three months, during which time I was subjected to the most severe psychological torture. Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, following two sessions in the summer of 2024, issued my death sentence in autumn of that year without adequate evidence or supporting documentation.
That sentence was overturned in April 2025 by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, on the grounds of a lack of legal evidence. The case was referred back to Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh for retrial, but the same court issued a death sentence against me for a second time, in the shadow of the 12-day war. That sentence was also overturned once more, in autumn 2025, by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, which affirmed my innocence.
Even so, the case was returned a third time to Branch Two of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, and regrettably, due to the country’s circumstances in January 2026, a death sentence was issued against me for a third time, based on a letter copied from the previous occasions. That sentence was confirmed this morning by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court, under the wartime conditions in the country.
Perhaps most people cannot fully comprehend what it means to hear a death sentence, but it is something that no one and nothing can bear.
The death sentence has killed me, shattered me; every moment I see my own death before me, and it has brought my family to their knees. Do not pass by this letter of execution unmoved. Today it is my turn, and tomorrow it will be someone else’s.
I implore my dear compatriots, the proud Kurds inside the country and wherever in the world they may be, and the religious scholars whose seminaries I attended as a student: be the voice of my silence. Carry my voice to human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, and to the entire world.
Orumiyeh is different from the rest of Iran. I say this from the depths of my heart: my first “crime” was being Kurdish, and after that, being Sunni. Come to my aid. I am not the first, and I will not be the last.
Nasser Bakerzadeh
25 April 2026
Orumiyeh Central Prison
