In the stark confines of an interrogation room in Bukan, Iran, six regime enforcers are poised to begin a relentless 72-hour ordeal of torture. Their target: a political prisoner on death row, subjected to a relentless cycle of beatings and electric shocks, leaving him teetering on the edge of consciousness. Yet, this harrowing experience was only the beginning of a prolonged nightmare.

Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, a Kurdish farmer, recounts his grim saga in a letter penned from his prison cell. His narrative unveils 130 days of unyielding torment, marked by mock executions and suffocating waterboarding sessions, painting a vivid picture of the extreme measures employed by the Islamic Republic’s enforcers.

Babamiri’s chilling story echoes the broader brutality prevalent in Iranian prisons, where ruthless jailers wield violence as a tool to instill fear in those daring to challenge the Ayatollah’s iron grip. His testimony is a grim reminder of the peril faced by those who speak out against the regime.

Currently, around 3,000 protesters find themselves ensnared in these so-called ‘slaughterhouses’—a term activists use to describe the notorious prisons. These individuals were swept up in a draconian crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

Although the regime has publicly rejected the notion of mass executions, skepticism lingers among activists. They fear that many detainees could endure the same fate as Babamiri, subjected to torture or worse, as the state seeks to silence dissent with an iron fist.

The regime has denied they will carry out mass executions, but activists are unconvinced and fear many will be subjected to the same kind of torture as Babamiri – or worse.

That fear has been sharply focused on the case of heroic Iranian protester Erfan Soltani. 

This week, at least 3,000 protesters are languishing in prisons that activists have described as ‘slaughterhouses’, having been rounded up in a brutal crackdown on anti-government riots. In this undated frame grab guards drag an emaciated prisoner, at Evin prison in Tehran

The regime has denied they will carry out mass executions, but activists are unconvinced and fear many will be subjected to torture. Pictured: An Iranian judiciary official flogs serial killer Mohammad Bijeh, 22, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering 21 people in 2005

That fear has been sharply focused on the case of heroic Iranian protester Erfan Soltani (pictured). Soltani was widely believed to be facing imminent execution after his family were told to prepare for his death, prompting international alarm

Soltani was widely believed to be facing imminent execution after his family were told to prepare for his death, prompting international alarm.

The 26-year-old shopkeeper has since become an unlikely focal point in an escalating international power struggle between Tehran and Washington, after Donald Trump warned that executing anti-government demonstrators could trigger US military action against Iran.

Iranian authorities have denied that Soltani has been sentenced to death.

But human rights groups warn that even if Soltani avoids execution, he could still face years of extreme torture inside Iran’s prison system, where detainees describe beatings, pepper spray and electric shocks, including to the genitals.

Amnesty International has documented cases in which detainees were suspended by their hands and feet from a pole in a painful position referred to by interrogators as ‘chicken kebab’, forcing the body into extreme stress for prolonged periods.

Other reported methods include waterboarding, mock executions by hanging or firing squad, sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, sensory overload using light or noise, and the forcible removal of fingernails or toenails. 

The organisation says such torture is routinely used to extract ‘confessions’ before any legal proceedings have taken place, with the Iranian state broadcaster airing footage of detainees making televised admissions that rights groups say are coerced.

Human rights groups warn that even if Soltani avoids execution, he could still face years of extreme torture inside Iran’s prison system, where detainees describe being suspended by their hands and feet from a pole in a painful position referred to by interrogators as ‘chicken kebab’

UN experts have documented recent cases in which prisoners were subjected to repeated floggings or had fingers amputated, warning that such punishments are used to instil fear and demonstrate the state’s control over detainees’ bodies

State television has broadcast dozens of such confessions in recent weeks, according to rights groups, including footage of detainees breaking down in tears while being questioned by Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a hardline official sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States. 

In a letter from Urmia Central Prison, Rezgar Beigzadeh, said he was tied to a chair with a rope while intelligence agents applied electric shocks to his earlobes, testicles, nipples, spine, sides, armpits, thighs and temples, inflicting unbearable pain to force him to write or say what interrogators wanted on camera.

Sexual violence has also been documented as a method of abuse. A Kurdish woman told Human Rights Watch that in November 2022 two men from the security forces raped her while a female agent held her down and facilitated the assault.

A 24-year-old Kurdish man from West Azerbaijan province said he was tortured and raped with a baton by intelligence forces in a secret detention centre.

And a 30-year-old man from East Azerbaijan province said he was blindfolded, beaten and gang raped by security officers inside a van. 

Another detainee said that when he told interrogators he was not affiliated with any political party and would no longer protest, officers tore his clothes apart and raped him until he lost consciousness. 

He said that when water was poured over his head he regained consciousness to find his body covered in blood.

In 2024, Iranian authorities whipped a woman 74 times for ‘violating public morals’ and fined her for refusing to wear a hijab while walking through the streets of Tehran

Soltani, 26, is believed to be held at Ghezel-Hesar Prison, a vast state detention centre long accused of serious human rights violations

Former inmates and monitoring groups say the prison is dangerously overcrowded, routinely denies medical care and has been used as a major execution site

Rare footage leaked from inside Tehran’s Evin Prison and later analysed by Amnesty has shown guards beating and mistreating detainees, providing visual corroboration of abuse long documented by rights groups.

Human rights organisations warn that these practices are not isolated incidents, but form part of a wider pattern across Iran’s detention system.

Soltani, 26, is believed to be held at Ghezel-Hesar Prison, a vast state detention centre long accused of serious human rights violations.

Former inmates and monitoring groups say the prison is dangerously overcrowded, routinely denies medical care and has been used as a major execution site.

One former political prisoner described it as a ‘horrific slaughterhouse’, saying inmates were beaten, denied treatment and forced to sleep packed into filthy cells. 

The few images of the facility to emerge through Iran’s heavily restricted media environment show a high brick wall topped with razor wire surrounding the prison.

Iran has gained a reputation for carrying out executions at scale. 

According to Amnesty International, the country executed more than 1,000 people last year, the highest number recorded since 2015, with rights groups warning it now executes more people per capita than any other state.

Clashes between protesters and security forces in Urmia, in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, on January 14, 2026 

Protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious centre on January 10, 2026

Human rights organisations say the abuses reported at Ghezel-Hesar are not exceptional, but reflect a wider pattern across Iran’s detention system.

Amnesty and other monitors have documented torture, coerced confessions and prolonged detention in facilities across the country, warning that imprisonment itself has become a tool to punish and intimidate protesters.

In 2024, a female protester held at Evin Prison said she was placed in solitary confinement for the first four months of her detention, spending her days in a tiny, windowless cell with no bed or toilet.

Soltani has been charged with ‘collusion against internal security’ and ‘propaganda activities against the system’, according to state media. 

But he remains in legal limbo, with Iranian authorities yet to publicly clarify whether he has been formally tried, what sentence he could face, or how long he may be detained.

Rights groups say such uncertainty is common for protest detainees, many of whom are held for months without clear information about their cases, often following brief or closed hearings on vaguely defined national security charges.

Somayeh, one of Erfan Soltani’s cousins, called on Donald Trump to intervene to save him. Iranian authorities later denied that Soltani has been sentenced to death

Soltani has since become an unlikely focal point in an escalating international power struggle between Tehran and Washington, after Donald Trump warned that executing anti-government demonstrators could trigger US military action against Iran

Avoiding a long prison sentence does not necessarily protect detainees from violence. 

UN experts have documented recent cases in which prisoners were subjected to repeated floggings or had fingers amputated, warning that such punishments are used to instil fear and demonstrate the state’s control over detainees’ bodies.

In 2024, Iranian authorities whipped a woman 74 times for ‘violating public morals’ and fined her for refusing to wear a hijab while walking through the streets of Tehran.

Roya Heshmati, 33, was lashed with a leather whip and forced to pay a fine equivalent to £255 after she ‘encouraged permissiveness’ by appearing in public without covering her head.

Writing on her now locked social media page, Heshmati described being beaten mercilessly across her back, legs and buttocks in a dank room she likened to a medieval torture chamber, but said she still refused to wear a hijab in the courtroom even after the ordeal. 

‘[The lashing] was over. We left the room. I did not let them think I had experienced pain,’ she wrote. ‘I threw off my scarf at the courtroom entrance. The woman asked me to wear the headscarf. I did not stop and she pulled it over my head again.’

Much of what happens to detainees only emerges through survivor testimony and rights group reporting, due to Iran’s tightly controlled media environment.

In 2024, a female protester held at Evin Prison (pictured) said she was placed in solitary confinement for the first four months of her detention, spending her days in a tiny, windowless cell with no bed or toilet

Human rights organisations warn that these practices are not isolated incidents, but form part of a wider pattern across Iran’s detention system. Pictured: Iranian women inmates sit at their cell in the infamous Evin jail in 2006

The lack of transparency has become especially apparent as anti-government protests have resurfaced across the country, with authorities once again responding through mass arrests, harsh punishments and threats of the most severe sentences.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, with reports of buildings set ablaze, cars overturned and chants of ‘death to the dictator’.

State aligned clerics and media figures have warned that protesters could be treated as ‘enemies of God’, a charge that can carry the death penalty under Iran’s legal system.

Around 3,000 people were arrested during the recent protests in Iran, according to security officials cited by the country’s Tasnim news agency on Friday.

The 3,000 people detained included ‘armed individuals and rioters’ and ‘members of terrorist organisations’, according to Tasnim, which is considered close to security forces in Iran.

But rights groups believe that number to be far higher, estimating up to 20,000 arrests.

Soltani was arrested for taking part in protests on January 10. His family was later told he would face the death penalty and that his execution was imminent.

But Tehran has since confirmed that Soltani will not face execution, after Trump warned that executing anti-government demonstrators could trigger military action.

Iran’s judiciary said the charges against Soltani do not carry the death sentence if confirmed by a court, but provided no further detail on his legal status, access to a lawyer or the length of time he could remain in detention.