ON FILE: Issue 001 · May 2026

OPENING ASSESSMENT

May 2026 was defined by two converging crises: the continuation of an armed conflict that has killed thousands of Iranian civilians since late February, and a state repression campaign of exceptional scale and intensity operating under the cover of wartime conditions. The Islamic Republic used the security emergency to execute political prisoners at an accelerated pace, arrest over 6,000 people since the conflict began, and impose what became the longest documented internet blackout in any country – 88 days – before partially restoring access on 26 May. The fragile US-Iran ceasefire secured in April continued to hold through May, though negotiations over its extension and a nuclear framework remained unresolved. Human rights organizations documented a systematic pattern: arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, forced confessions, and politically motivated executions – all proceeding at speed, with almost no judicial safeguards and minimal international visibility due to the information blackout.

WHAT’S NEW THIS MONTH?

New developments: The internet blackout – which began in early March following the USIsraeli strikes – entered and ended its final weeks in May. According to news, Masoud  Pezeshkian (The President in Islamic Republic) ordered restoration of global internet access on 25 May, though service remained restricted and slow. Two human rights lawyers, Astareh (Maryam) Ansari and Elham Zera’atpisheh, were subjected to enforced disappearance after arrests in Fars province on 3-4 May – a new targeting of the legal profession. Prominent lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, arrested 1 April and disappeared for six weeks, was released on bail on 13 May. Political executions continued at their highest pace since the Islamic Republic’s early years.

Continuing patterns: Executions of protesters and political prisoners; mass arbitrary detention; torture and coerced confessions used as trial evidence; disproportionate targeting of ethnic and religious minorities; systematic intimidation of families; enforcement of compulsory hijab law; and accelerated deportation of Afghan nationals.

Overview

The US-Israeli military strikes launched on 28 February 2026 triggered the most severe acute humanitarian crisis inside Iran in decades. A conditional ceasefire was established on 8 April and has been extended through May, but civilian harm from the conflict period continues to shape every dimension of the human rights situation.

Civilian Casualties and Infrastructure

According to HRANA, the strikes resulted in at least 3,636 deaths inside Iran, including 1,701 civilians and 1,221 military personnel. Iranian authorities reported at least 3,375 civilian deaths and 32,314 injuries nationwide, with the highest concentration in Tehran, Hormozgan, and Isfahan provinces. Strikes damaged or destroyed an estimated 1,200 educational facilities and 307 health and medical facilities according to the Iranian Red Crescent, disrupting access to schooling and healthcare for large populations. Approximately 2,300 water infrastructure incidents were reported, raising serious public health concerns.

Note: Due to the lack of transparency of Iran’s government, none of its official statistics can be independently verified.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and multiple Special Procedures mandate holders have documented a pattern of strikes on civilian infrastructure – including housing, hospitals, transport networks, and energy systems – and called for accountability from all parties under international humanitarian law.

Civilian Living Conditions

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Update No. 4 (as of 1 May 2026), approximately 2 million Iranians have lost employment, and millions more have been internally displaced. Markets remain partly functional, but declining purchasing power is limiting food access for the most vulnerable households. In-person education has been suspended in affected areas, compounding psychosocial harm to children. Critical civilian infrastructure damage has disrupted electricity supply and transportation in several provinces.

The pattern of strikes on protected civilian infrastructure raises serious questions under international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction and proportionality (Additional Protocol I; Rome Statute Art. 8). OHCHR and UN experts have called for independent investigation into all alleged violations by all parties.

The 88-day internet blackout – the longest ever recorded in any country – was the defining information rights crisis of the period. Imposed shortly after the February 28 strikes, the shutdown isolated more than 90 million people from global internet access and severely obstructed documentation of human rights violations inside Iran.

During May, authorities introduced a discriminatory tiered access system (“Internet Pro”) through so-called “white SIM cards,” exempting certain institutions and pre-approved individuals from filtering. This created a two-tier information environment that privileged state-aligned actors. Reports from within Iran described internet access as functioning through telecom-level whitelisting – a model that embeds surveillance into connectivity.

On 25 May, President Pezeshkian ordered restoration of general access. By 26 May, service was partially restored, though with continued restrictions. As of 31 May, many users still faced limited or slow connectivity.

Beyond internet access, authorities systematically suppressed information through: the arrest and enforced disappearance of journalists and media workers (included among the 6,000+ detained since late February); intimidation of families of detainees and executed individuals – in documented cases, family members were warned against speaking to media or human rights organizations; and threats against relatives of human rights defenders used as leverage to pressure activists abroad.

The internet blackout constitutes a mass violation of the right to freedom of expression and information.

Iran executed at least 1,639 people in 2025, a 68% increase from 975 in 2024 and the highest figure recorded by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and ECPM (Together against the death penalty) in 44 years. Since the conflict began on 28 February 2026, at least 39 individuals have been executed on politically motivated charges, comprising 16 protesters, 9 political dissidents (including members of banned opposition groups), 10 individuals charged with espionage for the US or Israel, and total in the first months of 2026, with the pace accelerating sharply through May.

Main Patterns

The death penalty is being deployed as an instrument of political control, with the wartime context enabling expedited prosecutions on capital charges. Senior judiciary officials publicly ordered fast-tracked proceedings, including for alleged espionage – a charge carrying the death penalty. Trials documented by human rights organizations lasted as little as ten minutes. Forced confessions extracted under torture have been used as primary evidence.

Ethnic and religious minorities remain disproportionately represented among those executed on political charges. IHRNGO data shows that from 2010 to 2024, 97% of those executed on political charges were Kurdish, Baluch, or Arab – a pattern that continued into 2026.

Significant Cases

Erfan Shakourzadeh – a 29-year-old master’s student – was executed on 11 May 2026 at Evin Prison on charges of cooperating with US intelligence and Israel’s Mossad. IHRNGO reported his execution without prior family notification. Significant: His case exemplifies the use of espionage charges against young educated Iranians, with a capital conviction based on proceedings that did not meet fair trial standards.

Abbas Akbari Feizabadi – arrested during the January 2026 protests – was executed on 25 May 2026, becoming the 15th protester executed in connection with the January protests in 67 days. His family was denied a final visit. His daughter was separately sentenced to 25 years in prison for attending the same protest. Significant: The joint targeting of a father and daughter illustrates the collective punishment dimension of Iran’s protest repression.

Ehsan Afrashteh – executed on 13 May 2026 on espionage charges for Israel. Significant: Part of a pattern in which espionage charges have been used to rapidly execute individuals without genuine judicial process, particularly amid the heightened security climate of the conflict.

Ramin Zeleh and Karim Yaghoubpour – Kurdish political prisoners – were executed in May 2026. Significant: Their executions are consistent with the persistent disproportionate use of capital punishment against Kurdish activists on political charges.

Key Statistics and Trends

Since 28 February 2026, Iranian authorities arbitrarily arrested more than 6,000 people, including protesters, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, students, teachers, labor activists, ethnic minorities, and religious minorities. The pace of arrests tracked by Amnesty International and the Center for Human Rights in Iran shows consistent targeting across all International and the Center for Human Rights in Iran shows consistent targeting across all sectors of civil society.

Main Patterns

Detainees are held incommunicado and subjected to enforced disappearance – in many cases for weeks – before any family contact is permitted. Torture and other ill-treatment during interrogation is documented as systematic, with coerced confessions then used as trial evidence. Access to legal counsel is routinely denied at the critical investigation stage. Expedited prosecutions before Revolutionary Courts have produced death sentences within days of arrest. The judiciary has shown no independence from security institutions, with courts functioning as processing mechanisms for politically determined outcomes.

Families of detainees are a distinct category of victims: authorities threaten family members, prohibit them from speaking to media or human rights organizations, and in some cases arrest relatives as leverage against detained or exiled activists.

Significant Cases

Nasrin Sotoudeh – prominent human rights lawyer – was arrested on 1 April 2026 and subjected to enforced disappearance for approximately six weeks; her family received no information about her whereabouts. She was released on bail on 13 May 2026. Significant: Sotoudeh is Iran’s most internationally recognized human rights attorney, and her enforced disappearance signals that no one – regardless of profile – is outside the scope of the crackdown.

Astareh (Maryam) Ansari and Elham Zera’atpisheh – two human rights lawyers arrested in Fars province on 3 and 4 May 2026 respectively – have been subjected to enforced disappearance, with their whereabouts and condition unknown as of the end of the month. Significant: The pattern of targeting lawyers, who play a constitutive role in any accountability process, is designed to eliminate the last institutional safeguard within the legal system.

Zahra Shahbaz Tabari – sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in October 2025 on charges of “armed rebellion” through membership in an outlawed opposition group. In an open letter from prison, she stated her trial lasted no more than ten minutes. Significant: Her case demonstrates how perfunctory trial procedures are producing capital sentences, with fair trial protections functionally nonexistent.

Key Statistics and Trends

The Hijab and Chastity Law (Law on Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the The Hijab and Chastity Law (Law on Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab), which became law on 13 December 2024, despite early reports that its implementation was caused, continues to be enforced through a combination of street-level surveillance, electronic monitoring, undercover agents, and business targeting. The law carries penalties ranging from heavy fines and travel bans to imprisonment of up to 15 years, and controversially includes provision for the death penalty for activism against compulsory veiling laws.

Main Patterns

Street enforcement has become less visually prominent in major urban centers, particularly Tehran, but has intensified in smaller cities and provincial areas. Authorities are increasingly using businesses – cafés, shops, salons – as proxies for enforcement, threatening or closing establishments that do not enforce veiling rules on customers. Electronic surveillance, including CCTV networks and undercover agents, has partially replaced public morality patrols. Women continue to be summoned, fined, and prosecuted for non-compliance.

The wartime context has added a layer of complexity: women and girls detained during protests have been charged with national security offenses alongside morality violations, in some cases receiving sentences that span both. Daughters and wives of executed protesters have faced separate prosecutions – the case of Abbas Akbari Feizabadi’s daughter, sentenced to 25 years for attending a protest alongside her father (who was subsequently executed), illustrates the gendered dimension of collective punishment.

UN experts have called for the Hijab and Chastity Law to be repealed as incompatible with Iran’s international human rights obligations.

Key Statistics and Trends

Non-Persian ethnic groups constitute approximately 50% of Iran’s population but are systematically over-represented among those detained, executed, and denied basic services. IHRNGO data for 2010–2024 shows that 97% of those executed on political charges were Kurdish, Baluch, or Arab. As of end-April 2026, 682 executions had been recorded for the year, with ethnic minorities disproportionately represented. 

Main Patterns

Kurds: Kurdish political prisoners – including Ramin Zeleh and Karim Yaghoubpour – were executed in May. Kurdish activists face charges including “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “armed rebellion” (baghi), applied in ways that criminalize political affiliation. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) continues to document arrests of activists across the Kurdish provinces.

Baluch: Baluch individuals remain subject to mass and often extrajudicial execution, frequently on drug-related charges that carry the death penalty and are applied in ways that disproportionately affect poor Baluch men. The wartime crackdown has intensified security force activity in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Ahwazi Arabs: In Khuzestan, Ahwazi Arab activists and civilians face charges of “membership in separatist groups,” “corruption on earth,” and “links to opposition organizations.” AHRO (Ahwaz Human Rights Organization) has documented new arrests in the province.

Baha’is: May 2026 saw a sharp increase in Baha’i arrests. Baháʼí International Community is  systematically documenting cases and publishing reports. The Center for Human Rights in Iran documented a campaign including mass arrests by plainclothes agents, enforced disappearances, denial of legal counsel, property seizures, prolonged solitary confinement, and denial of medical treatment. State-sponsored anti-Baha’i propaganda has intensified, with the community additionally targeted through accusations of links to Israel.

Christians: Christian advocacy organizations document that arrests on religion-related charges nearly doubled in 2025 compared to 2024, with more than twice as many serving prison, exile, or forced-labor sentences. This trend continues into 2026.

Since the beginning of 2025, Iran has deported approximately 2.8 million Afghan nationals, a dramatic acceleration of a pre-existing trend. According to UNHCR, nearly 270,000 Afghans were deported to Afghanistan in the first months of 2026 from Iran and Pakistan combined.

The deportations take place without individualized assessment of protection needs, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement (the prohibition on returning individuals to places where they face persecution, torture, or serious harm). A UN report found that a number of forcibly returned Afghans experienced arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture at the hands of Taliban authorities upon return.

In May 2026, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued a public statement condemning the forced repatriations, stating they constitute a clear violation of international human rights law. The UN Secretary-General similarly condemned the returns.

The wartime context has added a security pretext to economic rationales for deportation. Afghan nationals in Iran – including many who have lived there for years or decades – have faced heightened suspicion and removal under expedited procedures that eliminate any possibility of protection claim adjudication.

Parliament

The Majlis (Iranian parliament) has functionally shifted from its legislative role toward a security legitimization function in the wartime context. Reports from Iranian media, including the state-affiliated Khabar Online (28 April 2026), openly questioned whether parliament has become a “loudspeaker for hardliners” rather than a functioning legislature. Members of parliament have issued military-style threats in place of policy deliberation, and parliamentary sessions have been dominated by wartime posturing rather than legislative activity.

The death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the conflict period has created a governance vacuum that has further elevated the IRGC’s institutional role and marginalized parliamentary functions.

Wartime Legal Framework

The authorities have invoked wartime conditions to justify accelerated prosecutions on capital charges, internet shutdowns, restrictions on movement, and the targeting of anyone perceived to have contact with the US or Israel. The legal framework being applied is not transparent; executions have proceeded under charges – including espionage and baghi – that are defined vaguely enough to encompass peaceful dissent.

Special Rapporteur on Iran (Mai Sato): The SR’s March 2026 report documented the sharp rise in executions and expressed serious concern about the deteriorating human rights crisis. The SR is expected to present findings to the United Nations General Assembly at its fall session.

Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI): The FFMI, whose mandate was renewed in January 2026 at the Special Session of the HRC (S-39/1), issued statements in March and April condemning the regional conflict and calling for accountability from all parties. The FFMI is scheduled to present its next full report to the

HRC at its 63rd session (September–October 2026) and to provide an oral update to the UN General Assembly’s 81st session (October 2026). Both events are significant opportunities for coalition engagement and submission of evidence.

OHCHR: The High Commissioner issued multiple statements through May 2026 on the human rights impact of the conflict, arbitrary executions, and Afghan deportations. A joint statement by UN experts in March called on all parties to de-escalate and for independent accountability for violations.

Upcoming UN opportunities

 The FFMI’s report to the HRC 63rd session (September–October 2026) is the next major multilateral accountability moment; submissions from coalition organizations should be prepared in advance.

 The General Assembly Third Committee session (October 2026) will include an oral update from the FFMI and a joint dialogue with the Special Rapporteur.

 The HRC’s regular June session may include statements on Iran; monitoring for any new resolutions or SR communications is recommended.

Domestic developments to monitor

 The succession crisis following Khamenei’s death remains unresolved and will shape the institutional balance between the IRGC, the presidency, and the clerical establishment – with direct implications for the trajectory of repression.

 US-Iran ceasefire extension negotiations: a 60-day extension was provisionally agreed; their outcome will affect conditions inside Iran, including the pace of executions and arrest.

 Internet access restoration: whether restored access leads to renewed documentation of violations by civil society inside Iran, or whether authorities use the connectivity window to deepen surveillance and control.

Emerging human rights concerns

 Post-conflict reconstruction and displacement: if ceasefire holds, the scale of civilian infrastructure damage will create protracted humanitarian needs requiring sustained monitoring of rights related to housing, health, education, and food.

 Accountability for conflict-period executions: at least 39 documented political executions since February 28; the window for evidence preservation is narrow and closing.

 Baha’i community: the sharp escalation in May – arrests, disappearances, property seizures – suggests a coordinated campaign; trajectory in June warrants close monitoring.