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First executions tied to anti-government protests carried out
Iran hanged three men on Thursday for the killings of two police officers during January's nationwide demonstrations, state media confirmed. The executions mark the first death sentences carried out in connection with the unrest.
Profiles of the condemned
Among those executed was 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a member of Iran's national wrestling squad, according to sources cited by CBS and the BBC. The other two men, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were convicted alongside Mohammadi in Qom province.
Tasnim, a news outlet affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported the trio were found guilty of fatally attacking officers in separate incidents. They were also convicted of moharebeh-waging war against God-a charge frequently used to impose capital punishment on protesters and regime opponents.
Trial and torture allegations
Human rights organizations claim the men confessed under torture and were denied a fair trial. Their executions followed the Supreme Court's rejection of appeals, Tasnim said.
The hangings occurred one day after Iran executed Kouroush Keyvani, an Iranian-Swedish national accused of spying for Israel. Sweden's foreign minister condemned the process as legally unsound.
Protests and crackdown
The demonstrations erupted in December over economic grievances, including the collapse of the Iranian rial and surging living costs. They rapidly expanded into calls for political reform, posing one of the gravest threats to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Iranian authorities responded with a brutal crackdown, deploying security forces across 180 cities and towns. A near-total internet blackout obscured the scale of the violence, but protesters told the BBC the repression was unprecedented.
"The lethal response was unlike anything we've seen before,"
BBC interview with demonstrators
Casualty figures and international reactions
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported at least 7,000 deaths in January alone, including 6,488 protesters and 236 children. In response to threats of executions, then-US President Donald Trump warned of "strong action" in January. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the warnings, insisting there were "no plans" to carry out hangings.
One detained protester, Erfan Soltani, was reportedly slated for execution within days, according to the Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw. Iran's judiciary later denied he faced the death penalty, stating he was charged with non-capital security offenses and released on bail.
Broader regional tensions
The executions coincide with heightened hostilities between Iran and Western allies. Since the protests, the US and Israel have conducted extensive strikes on Iranian targets, including the killing of Iran's supreme leader. Iran has retaliated with attacks on Israel and Gulf states allied with Washington.
