New Delhi: The 21-year-old Iranian rapper and singer Erfan Mirzaei was executed at the Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan on Sunday, months after being arrested in connection with the anti-government protests earlier this year, according to local media reports.
Mirzaei was arrested in early April at a checkpoint in Shahinshahr in the Isfahan province. Security forces claimed they found images and videos related to the protests on his mobile phone, including of clashes between the protestors and members of the Basij, a voluntary paramilitary force linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The anti-government protests started in late December 2025 over Iran’s amid economic crisis and later grew into a mass movement demanding a political change.
Following this, he was arrested and transferred to Dastgerd Prison and charged with moharebeh, a term in Islamic law meaning ‘enmity against God’ or ‘waging war against God’, according to a report in the IranWire.com.
The charge is often used by Iran’s judicial system in cases involving people who oppose the State. IranWire and other reports claim he was sentenced to death after the charges were put up.
His family and relatives spent months trying to prevent the execution.
“Those close to him attempted to prevent the execution and save his life, stating that substantial sums of money were paid in hopes of halting the sentence. Ultimately, however, the family was informed of his execution without prior notice,” said the IranWire report.
“Sources reported that security forces had previously threatened Erfan’s family, warning that if they publicized his arrest, case details, or death sentence, the execution would be carried out immediately,” it added.
According to sources quoted in the report, Erfan was subjected to severe beatings and torture during his detention. Upon the handover of his body, multiple signs of injury and severe bruising were visible on his face and body.
The IranWire reported that Mirazaei was executed on 6 September. But the information received by his close family suggested that he died in police custody and after severe torture and beatings. The body showed multiple injuries and bruising marks, while some reports claimed he also suffered fractures in arms and legs that led to embolism.
His body was buried in Gharghan Village in Freidan, Isfahan province. Human rights groups have come together and raised their voice over “unfair trials, torture and limited access to legal help in such cases”.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: Indian students keep getting stuck in war. Families send kids anywhere for Dr title