Execution of 26-Year-Old Mehdi Khanaki on Charges of Active Participation in Iran’s January Uprising and PMOI Membership
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Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
Wanted since the January uprising, PMOI member Mehdi Khanaki was arrested on February 10, 2026, in Karaj.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi condemned the consecutive executions of freedom fighters and rebellious youths, particularly key figures of the January uprising, as a clear sign of the regime’s fear of persistent resistance against its religious fascism.
On the morning of Wednesday, July 22, 2026, the mullahs’ regime executed PMOI member Mehdi Khanaki, a 26-year-old law graduate, after subjecting him to months of severe physical and psychological torture. He was hanged on charges of membership in the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and active participation in the January uprising. Mehdi had been sentenced to death and the confiscation of all his property by the regime’s Revolutionary Court of Karaj.
The martyred PMOI member Mehdi Khanaki had been pursued and sought by security forces since the January 2026 uprising and was eventually arrested on February 10 in Karaj. The PMOI had informed the UN Special Rapporteur and international human rights organizations about Mehdi’s arrest and severe torture on March 1.
On February 12, state-run media announced Mehdi’s arrest without mentioning his name, reporting: “The Intelligence Organization of the State Security Force (SSF) of Alborz Province arrested a member of the Monafeqin [PMOI] terrorist group” (Khabar-e Fori, February 12, 2026).
The 26-year-old PMOI freedom fighter, Mehdi Khanaki, was executed this morning by the clerical regime in Iran.
He had been wanted since the January uprising and was arrested on February 10 in Karaj. His arrest and severe torture were reported to the UN Special Rapporteur and… pic.twitter.com/Coa9tGMZxJ
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) July 22, 2026
Today, the regime’s judiciary claimed that a few days before the January uprising, Mehdi “received firearms and ammunition from a location communicated to him by a contact who sent details and a video, and received communication equipment using the same method from another location in Mahdasht, Karaj.” It also claimed, “According to technical investigations and the opinions of experts and the ballistics laboratory, the weapons seized from Mehdi Khanaki were fired during the January 2026 riots” (Mizan news agency, July 22, 2026).
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), condemned the ongoing executions of freedom fighters and rebellious youths, particularly key figures of the January 2026 uprising. She described these executions as another clear sign of the persistent uprising of the Iranian people and their brave children against religious fascism, reflecting the regime’s terror of the inevitable explosion of public anger.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
22 July 2026